Gratch previously served as an associate professor of communication and media and director of general education at Utica University, as an assistant professor of rhetoric at Georgia College & State University and as an instructor of communication at Louisiana State University.

Gratch’s areas of academic interest include storytelling, tourism and performance studies. He is co-author of “Digital Performance of Everyday Life” (Routledge, 2021) with Lyndsay Michalik Gratch, author of  “Speech Performance: Public Speaking for All Occasions” (Cognella, 2025) and co-editor of “Embodied Pedagogy: Activities for the Communication Classroom” with Lyndsay Michalik Gratch and Andrea Baldwin (Palgrave, 2025).

Gratch was a runner-up at the 2017 National Storytelling Festival Story Slam, a finalist at the 2016 National Storytelling Festival Story Slam and a 2015 Official Selection at the Patti Pace Performance Festival. He is a member of the National Communication Association (NCA) and the Southern States Communication Association, and has served as the chair of the Performance Studies Division for both organizations. Gratch is also an editorial board member of “Text and Performance Quarterly,” the book reviews editor of “Storytelling, Self, Society” and the vice-chair of the board of directors for the International Storytelling Center.

Gratch holds a Ph.D. in communication from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; an M.A. in communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; an M.S. in higher education from Syracuse University; and a B.A. in theater and performance studies from Kennesaw State University. 

Education

• Ph.D., Louisiana State University
• M.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• M.S., Syracuse University
• B.A., Kennesaw State University