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Patti Mulligan

PM
Patti Mulligan

she/her

Director of Strategic Communications and Operations

GES Center Executive Committee Member

Genetic Engineering and Society Center, NC State University

James B Hunt Jr Centennial Campus Library 5155

Bio

Patti Mulligan is the Director of Strategic Communications and Operations (DiSCO!) and a member of the Executive Committee for the Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center at NC State University. As part of the Center’s leadership team, she leads strategic communications, public engagement, and external affairs while helping shape the Center’s strategy and operations. Her work supports a nationally recognized interdisciplinary research center at the intersection of biotechnology, policy, ethics, and society.

Since joining NC State in February 2017, Mulligan has guided communications strategy, messaging, and reputational considerations for complex and sometimes contested areas of science and innovation. She oversees the Center’s website, newsletter, reports, social media, multimedia content, and event communications, translating interdisciplinary research for public, policy, and professional audiences.

Her role also encompasses strategic planning, project coordination, and the development of systems that turn Center priorities into practice. She builds workflows and tools that strengthen collaboration, improve operational efficiency, and preserve institutional knowledge across the Center’s research, education, and engagement activities.

Mulligan has played a central role in planning and promoting lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and the GES Colloquium series, cumulatively reaching more than 10,000 participants. She also provides communications leadership for large, externally funded initiatives totaling more than $30 million.

Prior to joining GES, Mulligan served as Operations Director for the North Carolina Democratic Party’s 2016 Coordinated Campaign, Director of eGiving for United Way of the Greater Triangle, and Community Outreach Director for Wake County SmartStart and The North Carolina Partnership for Children. She received the NC State Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in 2020 and the Office of Research and Innovation Pride of the Wolfpack Award in 2026.

Posts

  • Meet the 2026-27 GES Graduate Certificate Fellows
  • Two Years to Watch: What Happens Before the EU’s New Genomic Techniques Regulation Takes Effect
  • GES Seed Funding Call for Proposals: 2026–2027 Academic Year
  • Blog: From Genes to Governance: Reflections on the ISBR Symposium in Ghent
  • New Tenure-Track Faculty Position in the GES Cluster

    • Publications

    View all publications

    Groups

    • NC State Pride of the Wolfpack Award (2026)
    • NC State Chancellor’s Award for Excellence (2020)
    • Office of Research and Innovation Award for Excellence (2019)