Thomas Schmidt is a professor of Theater and the head of the master's program for Theater and Music Management at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt, Germany. He is a dramaturge and producer, who founded several theater companies and worked with them for many years. He was the Managing Director of the German National Theater in Weimar, and later its Executive Director, before being appointed head of the Master Program in 2013. The program trains theater and music professionals from all over the world, who afterwards take over management positions in theaters, orchestras, festivals and companies. He has worked as a playwright and he is the author of several books, including Theater, Krise und Reform (2017), as well as Power and Structure in Theater (2023) and Ethisches Theater (2024).