Please join us in congratulating Patrick Riccards (Col ’95) on the launch of the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement (DFI). The DFI is a national effort designed to improve the teaching and learning of history, using short, provocative videos to make history more interesting and relevant to today’s learners. The centerpiece of this work is his “Untold History” series, where they are developing videos about the people, events, and movements that are important to our nation’s development, but often aren’t included in history books. As part of this, Pat is committed to telling the stories of Latinos, particularly those who have been neglected in the textbooks. The video series can be found at untoldhistory.org.
His nominee writes that “[Pat] is committed to ensuring that kids like his see themselves in their classrooms and in their instruction.” Since leaving UVA, Pat has spent his career focused on educational improvement, working to improve literacy, STEM, teacher education, and now history instruction.