Kaufman is of
Romanian-Jewish and
Ukrainian-Jewish descent, and was born in
Caracas, Venezuela. He is an alumnus of Venezuela's
Universidad Metropolitana, where he began to study theatre. After immigrating to the United States, he went to college in New York and graduated from
NYU. In 2005 he described himself in an interview by saying, "I am Venezuelan, I am Jewish, I am
gay, I live in New York. I am the sum of all my cultures. I couldn't write anything that didn't incorporate all that I am." Kaufman was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002, following the premiere of
The Laramie Project, which was based on extensive interviews with residents and commentators in and around Wyoming who were involved with the aftermath of the murder of gay student
Matthew Shepard. He made his
Broadway directing debut in the 2004 production of
I Am My Own Wife by
Doug Wright, for which he received a
Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play. On September 22, 2016, Kaufman was awarded the
National Medal of Arts and Humanities in a ceremony conducted by U.S. president
Barack Obama. He is the first Venezuelan to receive the honor. == Stage credits ==