Professor Patterson received her Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a certificate in Nonprofit Leadership. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in History from Virginia State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Her primary research interests are focused on opportunities for the development of civic identity, skills, and knowledge, particularly for underserved populations and members of historically marginalized groups. She also researches education policy with a focus on improving educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged students. Her research has been presented at the American Education Research Association, the International Society for Quality of Life Studies, the Association for Public Policy and Management, the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies, and to the University of North Carolina Deans Council and the North Carolina General Assembly. Her work appears in the Journal of Teacher Education.  In addition, she has co-authored a number of policy reports and policy briefs on teacher preparation through her affiliation with the Education Policy Institute at Carolina (EPIC).  She joined the faculty at Georgia Southern University in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Studies in Fall, 2018, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in public policy, research methods, ethics, community development, public administration, and public and nonprofit management.