After receiving a BA in Antiquities: Classical Studies from Missouri State University in 2007, Patty came to the University of Colorado Boulder to attend graduate school. As a graduate teaching assistant, she taught everything from the rise of Mesopotamia through the fall of Rome, helped to dig up an ancient pirate city on the coast of Crete, was named a Phi Kappa Phi Fellow, and earned her MA in Classics in 2009. After graduation she worked at the CU Heritage Center before joining the Graduate School staff in 2012. She also graduated from the University Perspectives Program in 2018 and won a 2018-2019 Diversity & Inclusive Excellence Grant. She serves as a resource to departmental staff and faculty - as well as to current and prospective students - on graduate admissions and funding.
In addition to her duties as Director of Graduate Funding & Admissions, Patty served as the Xi C Province Officer for Sigma Alpha Iota from 2015-2018, as a member of the Leadership Board for Analyze Boulder from 2018-2019, and as a Director for the Nederland Community Library Foundation since 2018 where she is currently the Treasurer. She is also the Treasurer for Mile High Babywearing, where she has been volunteering since 2019. She is a soprano, a fiber artist, an avid snowboarder, and a goaltender for the Denver Women’s Hockey League (DWHL), ICAHL, and the Women’s Association of Colorado Hockey (WACH). Patty also enjoys hiking with her husband, her two daughters, and their Australian Kelpie, Tessa.