Ms. Buckley taught directing for the department of theatre and directed many CBT productions until her retirement in 2022. Her final year at UTK, she held the role of Interim Artistic Director for the Clarence Brown Theatre. She is a founding member of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and served as the Artistic Director of The Next Theatre in Evanston Illinois. She has been a Guest Lecturer on Shakespeare at universities and arts organizations nationally and abroad, most notably at Charles University in Prague and Yale University. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Barat College, Roosevelt University, DePaul University and Northwestern University. She received four Best Director nominations from the Joseph Jefferson Committee, her productions have won four consecutive Jefferson Awards for Best Ensemble and she has won two After Dark Awards for Outstanding Direction. She is a committee member of the Michael Merritt Award for Design Excellence. In 2006 she received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Aurora University and a Creative Research Award from the University of TN.