SMU alumna is new voice of University’s television commercial

By Milan Khatami
SMU News

“World changers shaped here.” SMU adopted the simple but powerful phrase in 2013 as part of a new branding campaign aimed to highlight the university’s students, faculty, and alumni and their positive impact on the world around them. To further the message of the campaign, the University released a short video commercial that emphasized a range of world issues that have inspired students and faculty to work together in finding solutions that will influence and change the world.

Following the initial success of the spot, it has been recently updated with the voice of alumna Martha Harms, who graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. The new version will debut on Friday, Sept. 4, during ESPN’s broadcast of the SMU Mustangs’ season opener against Baylor.

Harms’ experience as an actress and voice-over talent made her a good choice for the SMU commercial. Over the years, she has voiced more than 30 characters in anime television shows such as Assassination Classroom and The Future Diary. Similarly, Harms also is known for voicing female heroes in popular video games such as Borderlands 2. She is equally respected for her performance in the theater as she takes on vastly different roles, which range from a modern twist on Marie Antoinette in On the Eve to a young hostess who becomes the main character in Slasher.

The Dallas Observer voted Harms the “Best Theater Actress” in 2013 and D Magazine bestowed the same honor a year later, putting her on their “Best of Big D” list in 2014 as the “Best Actress.” Currently, Harms can be found at Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, a theater founded by fellow SMU alumni.

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Related Links:

• About Martha Harms
• More alumni news from SMU Magazine
• Alumni in the News