Donald Holder has worked extensively in theater, opera, dance architectural and television lighting in the United States and abroad for over 25 years. He has designed more than 50 Broadway productions, has been nominated for 11 Tony awards, winning the Tony for Best Lighting Director for The Lion King and the 2008 revival of South Pacific. Holder was head of the lighting design program at the Californian Institute of the Arts from 2006 to 2010, was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Muhlenberg College, and is a graduate of the University of Maine and the Yale University School of Drama.