As a Loma Linda University freshman, Patti Johnstone struggled to find her passion until one day when she wandered into the building that housed the speech and audiology department. There, on closed circuit TV, she observed a speech therapy session that was underway.

“I instantly knew that was my calling,” said Johnstone. “I didn’t know it existed as a profession when I went to college. My parents had never heard of it either, and they were a doctor and a nurse. Today the demand is astonishing, and it far outpaces the ability to graduate professionals in the field.”

Johnstone would go on to spend four decades in private practice and academia before arriving at Viterbo University in January 2023 to create the speech-language pathology program. Along the way she earned two clinical master’s degrees from the University of Buffalo, a PhD in communication disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she served 17 years as the director of clinical education in audiology at the University of Tennessee.

“Viterbo is one of the best places I’ve ever worked,” Johnstone said. “I love it—the culture, values, students, and we have an amazing group of faculty.”

Johnstone has applied her extensive experience in launching Viterbo’s speech-language pathology graduate degree and communication disorders and sciences undergraduate major. Both are off to promising starts. For example, 19 students are currently taking undergraduate courses and 34 have applied to enroll in the fall 2025 cohort of the master’s program.

“There have been many new innovations in speech-language pathology,” Johnstone said. “Our students love it and I’m excited for them.”

Johnstone lives in western Wisconsin with her husband, a retired business owner, carpenter, safety director, and project manager. She enjoys nature, bird and animal watching, gardening, and cooking.

“I will continue the work to grow enrollment and explore the possibility of starting a clinic on campus,” she said. “There is a desperate need in the area.”