Member Spotlight
Dr. Rita Patton
Dr. Rita Patton is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, or UAB, School of Medicine. She has served on the COSAM Dean’s Leadership Council since 1995.
“I was invited to join the Dean’s Leadership Council by former Dean Stewart Schneller,” said Dr. Patton. “I wanted to help out the college because it is stimulating to see the great group of students and faculty we have here. I am particularly interested in first-generation college attendees and women in medicine or science since I am both of these.”
Dr. Patton established a scholarship for first-time college attendees, and she regularly supports the Dean’s general fund. When asked about COSAM, Patton said she believes the greatest strengths of the College of Sciences and Mathematics at Auburn are the great faculty, bright energetic students, and the well-kept and vastly improved facilities.
Dr. Patton has more than 20 years of private practice experience in medicine and 10 years in academic medicine. Her subspecialty is adult psychiatry, and she treats conditions such as adult ADD, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology-General Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine.
In addition to these certifications, Dr. Patton is a member of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association where she served as Secretary for State.
Dr. Patton is a native of rural Morgan County and currently lives in Mountain Brook with her husband, David, whom she met during a chemistry lab. She received a bachelor of science in biochemistry at Auburn and then attended medical school at UAB School of Medicine. Dr. Patton completed a residency in general psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry, both with UAB Medicine.
Outside of her career, Dr. Patton’s interests include traveling, cooking and reading. She and her husband have one son, David, who also attended Auburn, and a daughter, Heather.
The College of Sciences and Mathematics Dean's Leadership Council is a worldwide network of alumni and friends who believe in enhancing and promoting the sciences and mathematics mission of the college. The lives of these exemplary volunteers epitomize the characteristics found in well-rounded citizens of the world.
Through membership on the Dean's Leadership Council, these people carry forth the banner of the University by providing visibility and service to the educational mission of the College of Sciences and Mathematics.
Graduates and friends of the college's five departments are eligible to serve as leaders of the college on the Dean's Leadership Council. They are proven intellectuals, visionaries and philanthropists who share a sound educational background and an appreciation for the fields of sciences and mathematics.