Patrick Hughes is Vice Provost for University Programs and Student Success and a Professor of Communication Studies. He is a member of the Texas Tech University Teaching Academy and he received the Texas Tech University President’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007, the Texas Tech University President’s Excellence in Gender Equity Award in 2017. He has received more than 1.3 million dollars in research funding. He is a former department chair and associate dean for academic affairs. Patrick is published widely in communication and on growing interdisciplinary academic programs and strategically improving undergraduate and graduate education in Becoming Self-Directed Learners: Experience, Logic, Application, and Innovation (2017, Great River Learning, Dubuque, IA) and Perspectives in Interdisciplinary and Integrative Studies (2015, Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, TX). Patrick holds degrees from Augustana College (B.A., 1994), Illinois State University (M.S., 1996), and the University of Denver (Ph.D., 2000). Patrick is from Chicago, Illinois.