NASHVILLE, TN—Dr. Etta Crittenden Patterson, adjunct faculty member at Welch College since 2005, has accepted a full-time position in the Teacher Education Department, according to Provost Greg Ketteman.
Dr. Ketteman said, “Dr. Etta Patterson has maintained an excellent Christian testimony as an educator, teaching for many years in local schools followed by a long and successful career in the state department of education in Tennessee. Dr. Patterson is a valuable addition to Welch teacher education because she understands teaching and learning from personal experience in the classroom, personal experience where educational policy is made and implemented, personal experience teaching other teachers, and from her extensive graduate studies. It is an answer to prayer for this dedicated Welch College alumnus to return to the Teacher Education Department at her alma mater.”
Dr. Patterson grew up in Owasso, Oklahoma where she graduated from high school and attended First Free Will Baptist Church of Owasso (now Rejoice FWB). She received a B.A. from Welch College in 1976 and completed a B.S. in 1980. She went on to earn an M.Ed. from Tennessee State University in 1993 and her Ed.D. from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in 2013. She brings to Welch College 30 years of teaching and administrative experience in both Christian and public school settings. She is married to long-time Nashville educator Dr. Greg Patterson.
President Matt Pinson said, “It’s a blessing to have such a stellar educational professional with Christian school and public school experience come to teach at Welch College. Dr. Patterson is excellent at what she does and understands our Christian mission and philosophy of education, and her students love her.”