Patterson establishes scholarship in memory of his mother

Bob Patterson '98 has made it to the top of his career field, but hasn't forgotten how he got his start at Pitt-Bradford.

Patterson not only graduated from Pitt-Bradford but worked in the university's admissions office as his first job.

“This place gave me my start,” Patterson said while on campus during Alumni and Family Weekend earlier this month. “I wasn't a great student, but I had a lot of really good mentors.”

Wanting to help students like him and families like his, Patterson has established the Joan Marie Patterson Memorial Scholarship in memory of his mother.

“My mom was a big advocate of me going to school,” said Patterson, who was the first person in his family to attend college. “She was so excited by it, and I have a lot of good memories of looking at colleges with her, and she bawled every time she dropped me off.”

Patterson was recruited to Pitt-Bradford to play basketball, which he did during his freshman year, but stayed because of friends he had made after pledging a fraternity, Phi Kappa Epsilon.

An education major, he discovered after observing a kindergarten classroom that “there's no way I can do this for the rest of my life.”

Patterson's assistant basketball coach also worked in admissions and recommended him for a job giving tours, then serving as an admissions counselor, which he did after graduation.

Patterson loved admissions, and went on to work seven years in the admissions office at the University of Pittsburgh, where he would earn a master's degree and complete the coursework for a doctoral degree.

From there he moved on to roles at the University of North Carolina and University of California at Berkley before becoming the director of admissions at Stanford University, one of the most competitive universities in the world for students to get into.

While at Stanford, he got to meet many fascinating people - from star athletes to heads of state - all who wanted to put in a good word for a special student.

Patterson left Stanford for a new challenge in the world of education technology. “It's allowing me to have a larger impact than I ever could working for one university,” he said.

That venture is working at Chegg Inc., a company that helps high school and college students with everything from the admissions process to buying textbooks. Patterson just celebrated his fourth anniversary as vice president of student success, enrollment and career services at the company.

As an admissions consultant, Patterson knows the value of scholarships for families. He chose to establish a scholarship at Pitt-Bradford because, he said, “You can't forget where you came from.”

The scholarship will be awarded for the first time during the 2017-18 academic year. For more information on establishing a scholarship at Pitt-Bradford, contact Jill Ballard, executive director of institutional advancement at 814-362-5091 or jballard@pitt.edu.