He received his Ph.D. in Modern Foreign languages at the universityof Tennessee-Knoxville. He has been a member of the MTSU faculty since 2011. Dr. Pettigrew has taught Spanish Language course at all levels, Hispanic American literature, and an introductory course about teaching foreign languages. He also serves as the faculty advisor to the MTSU Spanish Club and is a member of the graduate faculty and honors faculty. His area of specialization is Hispanic American Literature, and his main research interest is the literary analysis of poetry.