In Memoriam: Raymond Patt

Article by Student Life staff Photos courtesy of Raymond Patt's family October 02, 2024

Campus community remembers CEHD doctoral student with talent for mentoring undergraduates

The University of Delaware community is deeply saddened to share the loss of Raymond (Ray) Patt, a fifth-year doctoral student in the College of Education and Human Development, Graduate College. He passed away on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at the age of 26.

Raymond Patt

During his time at UD, Mr. Patt earned a master of arts in 2023, and his Ph.D. will be awarded posthumously.

The St. Louis, Missouri, native and graduate of The Ohio State University, lived in Philadelphia with his husband.

Mr. Patt had an assistantship in the UD School of Education Rutherford Lab, and his research interests included how children learn language and coding skills in digital environments and how social teaching agent design can impact educational outcomes.

While at UD, Mr. Patt contributed to many research projects, but one of his great joys and talents was in mentoring undergraduate students. He mentored students in both of his labs, with one of his undergraduate mentees winning second place in the Steele Symposium undergraduate poster competition in 2023. He was actively mentoring a student in the Golinkoff Lab this year.

Mr. Patt was warm, funny, curious and creative, and he had deep interests in linguistics and computer science; he was especially interested in the intersection between linguistics, STEM and technology. He loved learning new languages, and his enthusiasm for this and many things was evident to all who interacted with him.

Raymond Patt with Golinkoff Research Group

Raymond Patt with the Golinkoff Research Group

Faculty shared their reflections:

Teomara (Teya) Rutherford, associate professor of learning sciences, School of Education: “I was one of Ray's advisers during his master's and Ph.D., and he worked as a research assistant on a number of projects with our team.

"Ray had great ideas and delivered them with enthusiasm. He could be excited about small things (getting a figure to display beautifully) or big things (finishing data collection on a two-year project!), but he always added a lightness and fun to research meetings. With his perspectives from both psychology and computer science, he was able to work well with teams of scholars from both fields and bring his unique linguistics-informed twists to ideas about coding and computational thinking, especially.

"We mourn the loss of Ray as a person and friend who always had fun anecdotes to share and who also always listened to and appreciated our own fun anecdotes, and we mourn the loss of Ray as a brilliant scholar who had potential to contribute to psychology, education and computer science topics in ways that could have enhanced the experience and learning of many students.

"So many people have approached me to note how fondly they hold memories of Ray—I know that we will all bring a bit of his energy into our own work and interactions, hopefully brightening both our own experiences and those of others.”

Roberta Golinkoff, Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Professor, School of Education: “After Ray's first two years I became his primary adviser. Ray was a breath of fresh air. He did everything with verve, panache and enthusiasm. He even received criticism enthusiastically! No one I have ever worked with had Ray's temperament; he was one of a kind. He was thinking hard with me and a talented undergraduate about how to recode some data when he passed. He never gave up or gave in. We should remember Ray as a light—a light who shined on everyone he met—from staff to faculty to students at all levels. I will miss him greatly.”

A celebration of Mr. Patt’s life will be held from 4-8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Garden at 1438 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19146. More information along with a video tribute to Mr. Patt can be found here.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Friends of Rittenhouse Square to preserve and protect one of Mr. Patt's favorite places in Philadelphia.

As always, students can connect with the Center for Counseling and Student Development at udel.edu/counseling or 302-831-2141. In addition, 24-hour virtual mental health support is available through TimelyCare.

Mental health support for UD benefited employees is provided from ComPsych® GuidanceResources®. The link gives steps on how to access services or call 1-877-527-4742 for support.