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.
Jillian Yarbrough joined the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business at West Texas A&M University in 2016. She received a B.S. in Education from Texas Christian University in 1997, an M.S. in Educational Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University in 1998, a Ph.D. in Educational Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University in 2000, and an M.B.A. with a concentration in management from Texas A&M University in 2002. In addition, Dr. Yarbrough has completed numerous academic certifications and graduate certificates, most notably Certificates in Leadership and Nonprofit Management from Duke University. She also holds professional designations in areas from Human Resources to Financial Planning. Finally, Dr. Yarbrough has held industry positions of Human Resource Generalist, Operations Manager and Business Analyst at Raytheon Corporation and Coastal Federal Financial Group.