Patricia Kopetz is a professor in Counseling and Special Education. She holds the masters degree in special education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and doctorate in educational administration and supervision from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Having taught in elementary schools in St. Louis, Missouri, she and her family relocated to Tennessee, where she was employed by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. From her original position as director of UTC’s College Access Program for students with specific learning disabilities, she later served on the faculty of Graduate Studies Education from 1999 – 2006. As part of her teaching, research, and service, she chaired the university’s Autism Advisory Committee that designed and chartered cross-disciplinary academic study of Autism, and research coordinator of the university’s Autism Center.

She is senior author of the textbook, Comprehensive Urban Education (Allyn & Bacon publisher), and has written several successful grants and published journal articles. Her outreach initiatives have included grant funding that supported Neurologic Music Therapy programs for students with Autism, Board of Directors charter membership on the Chattanooga Center for Autism Spectrum Conditions, and serving as Vice-President on the Executive Board of Directors for Special Education and Training at the Orange Grove Center for individuals with complex, neurodevelopmental disabilities. She was active on the Board of Directors of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera as Program Director, member of its musician’s contract negotiating team, and the Guild’s Education Director.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Patricia was professor and researcher in the Department of Educational Leadership and Administration at Mzuzu University in Malawi, Africa, in 2006.

Presently, her faculty position at CMU includes outreach activities, such as co-chairing and faculty sponsorship of CMU’s April Autism Awareness activities, and charter membership of Central Michigan’s Autism Society of America. Additionally, she serves on the Executive Board of Max’s Place Program for Social and Emotional Growth for students with Asperger Syndrome, and is a member of CMU’s Asperger Syndrome Study Committee and her college’s Educational Technology Committee.