The impact of Patricia “Patty” Raun’s nearly 40-year career as a professor of theatre arts in what is now the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design reaches far beyond the stages at Virginia Tech. She created the Center for Communicating Science and has since worked with researchers across the globe, using storytelling and theatre techniques to help people share their expertise and passion with the world.

At the Virginia Tech Board of Visitor’s April meeting, Raun’s extraordinary accomplishments across all three of Virginia Tech’s core mission areas of teaching, research or creative activity, and engagement were recognized with the Alumni Distinguished Professor honor. Receiving the 10-year appointment alongside Raun were Kwame Harrison, the Edward S. Diggs Professor in Humanities with a joint appointment in Africana Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and Raman Kumar, the R.V. and A.F. Oliver Professor of Investment Management in the Pamplin College of Business.

“I was floored by this news, and yet I know that this honor is shared by many,” said Raun. “My beloved coworkers, mentors, alumni, and students have shaped my experience of the world as well as my understanding of collaboration and co-creation. In addition, my family’s unwavering encouragement, despite challenges, has been pivotal. I am committed to paying their support forward with curiosity, creativity, and joy.”

Since the Center for Communicating Science’s inception in 2016, the demand for the work of the center has grown. As the founding director, Raun has designed workshops, presentations, and events for national and international audiences. At Virginia Tech, Raun created and implemented two courses with multiple sections as well as opportunities for graduate students and faculty to develop their abilities to communicate and connect. She has created and presented more than 200 workshops and learning experiences.

This spring, Raun will travel to Kenya for an in-person summit that wraps up a series of communicating science workshops for early career agricultural researchers from that country. This program is funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service grant and is co-hosted by Egerton University and Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Global Programs.

Raun joined the Virginia Tech Department of Theatre faculty in 1986. Her teaching has been recognized with multiple awards, including the College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award and the William E. Wine Award for Faculty Achievement, among others. She has served in many administrative roles, including founding director of the School of Performing Arts from 2007-17, department head of Theatre Arts from 2002-13 and assistant department head from 1994-2001.

Not only has Raun directed 21 theatre productions, but she has also participated alongside students in 14 plays and provided voice direction for over 30 full-length productions. Recently, she collaborated with 20 graduate student researchers from National Science Foundation-funded Research Traineeship programs nationwide, both online and in-person.

“As an artist-scholar dedicated to teaching, leadership, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Patty Raun has deeply impacted the lives of her students and colleagues, and the reverberations of her innovative work are felt locally at Virginia Tech, as well as on a national and global scale,” said Dean Lu Liu. “The reputation of the university and the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design is stronger because of Patty’s commitment to excellence.”

Over the past decade, Raun attributes the impact of her work to individual guidance and countless collaborative partnerships across various departments, schools, colleges, and institutes, including: Michelle Raines, administrative manager of the School of Performing Arts; Karen DePauw, former dean of the Graduate School; Karen Roberto, director of the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment; and Carrie Kroehler, associate director of the Center for Communicating Science.

“Their support, as well as the aid of folks in units such as the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment; Fralin Life Sciences Institute; the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design; the Graduate School; and the School of Performing Arts has been vital to the work I do,” said Raun. “This honor is a testament to their unwavering belief in our collective efforts. I promise to all of them to uphold the responsibilities and embrace the opportunities of this appointment to develop and support healthy and varied voices — both literal and figurative — in individuals, institutions, and communities.”

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