Professor Emeritus Honored for Service in Retirement

The NC State Association of Retired Faculty has honored professor emeritus Richard Patty with the William C. Friday Award for Distinguished Service in Retirement.

Patty taught physics for 32 years and served as department head for 19 before retiring in 1996. He continued to teach for 18 years, often taking a double load of classes, before stopping in 2014. He also served as interim head of the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences for two and a half years.

Patty received teaching awards before and after retirement, including the Alexander Quarles Holladay Award for Excellence in 1995 and the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1999. He was among the first group of NC State faculty recognized for an Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award; later he was recognized as an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor.

ARF calls Patty a “role model for his commitment to and excellence in teaching,” noting he taught every semester for 50 years, and praised his “calm and effective leadership.”