Patricia Hanna holds appointments in the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Linguistics. Her current research focuses on philosophy of language, philosophical linguistics and the interplay between the two; she brings a Wittgensteinian approach to bear Noam Chomsky's writings on language: how it should be studied and what it is.

Her work has been published in Mind, Philosophical Studies, Philosophia, and Philosophical Investigations. She frequently collaborates with Bernard Harrison, and together they wrote Word and World: Practice and the Foundation of Language (Cambridge University Press, 2004); this book offers an innovative reading of Wittgenstein's later writings. Professor Hanna came to the University in 1972, and has pursued her teaching and research ever since. In addition to her work as a faculty member, she has held a number of administrative positions : Associate Dean of the College of Humanities, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Director of the Tanner Humanities Center and Dean of the college of Humanities. She currently serves at the Past-president of the Academic Senate, and is a special adviser to the Associate Vice President for Faculty.