In 1983, Elaine Thatcher was the first student to graduate from USU with a master’s degree focused on folklore. Since that time she has worked throughout the country, including contracts with the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution. She also worked for many years with the Western Folklife Center, which produces the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.

In 1993, Thatcher became the first regional folklorist for the 12 Western states, working through the Western States Arts Federation, then based in Santa Fe, N.M., and providing services and support to folk arts programs and artists throughout the West. She operated a consulting firm, Heritage Arts Services, from Santa Fe for five years before joining the staff of the Mountain West Center at USU in 2001, eventually becoming director of the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University.

In 2006, the American Folklore Society presented her with the Benjamin A. Botkin Prize in recognition of her outstanding achievement in public folklore.