06/01/2026
Congratulations, again, to all of those recognized at our annual WWU Alumni Awards celebration! The honoree for the Alumni Achievement Award this year is Dan Erickson, creator of Severance, Emmy-winning screenwriter, and storyteller shaping modern television.
As the creator, show-runner, and executive producer of the television show “Severance,” Dan Erickson, ’07, is the brain behind the psychological sci-fi thriller and its darkly hilarious and often poignant take on identity, grief, and work-life balance. Erickson’s accolades include Writers Guild of America awards for best drama series and best new series, as well as Emmy Award nominations for outstanding drama series and outstanding writing. Perhaps just as rewarding, his twisty plots have also launched a thousand fan theories.
Long before “Severance” was one of the marquee offerings on AppleTV, Erickson was a creative writing student at WWU. At Western, Erickson was mentored by playwright and former faculty member Bryan Willis, who taught him to believe in his own vision, no matter how unconventional. “You have to believe that what you’re doing, on some level, is special, and what you’re doing is working,” Erickson says Willis taught him. “Don’t become so deferential that you’re just trying to follow the rules.”
As a student Erickson wrote a play that took these words to heart. Featuring office workers with mysterious lapses in memory, “Convention,” includes bits of the early DNA of “Severance.” Buzz surrounding the new script caught the attention of Western’s STP (Student Theatre Productions), which went on to produce “Convention” in the Old Main Theatre. “I sort of wrote it and thought, ‘Only at Western could I get this thing put up,’” Erickson said. After directing “Convention” for STP along with Abe Manion, ’07, Erickson submitted the script in his application to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he went on to earn an MFA in dramatic writing.
These days, Erickson continues to create stories that defy expectations.
Find his full spotlight video here: https://youtu.be/vZqz6kn024k?si=bUW-_LMUOXgE4rw1
