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

Gratch’s areas of academic interest include storytelling, tourism, and performance studies. He is the author of two forthcoming books: “Speech Performance: Public Speaking for All Occasions” (Cognella, first edition, spring 2025) and “Embodied Pedagogy: Activities for the Communication Classroom” with co-authors 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. He serves as vice chair and program planner of the NCA’s Performance Studies Division; an editorial board member of Text and Performance Quarterly; book reviews editor of Storytelling, Self, Society; and a member of the International Storytelling Center’s Board of Governors.

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; and a B.A. in theater from Kennesaw State University. He will complete an M.S. in higher education from Syracuse University in December 2024 (anticipated).

Education

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