Howard Patterson

Board Member

Smith County

            
Dr. Howard Patterson recently completed his 23rd year as vice president for Athletics at The University of Texas at Tyler. Hired in 2001 to help transition UT Tyler from a predominantly commuter campus to a residential campus and to create an NCAA athletic program from scratch, Patterson has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Beginning in 2008 Patterson served multiple roles as a vice president, but most of his time was spent as Vice President for Student Affairs & Athletics. During the 2013-14 academic year he served as an American Council of Education (ACE) Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin where he worked closely with then President William Powers.
Over Dr. Patterson’s 23-year tenure at UT Tyler he has created, overseen and dramatically enhanced a wide variety of areas across the campus. These include Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, News & Information, Marketing, Student Housing, Student Services, and Career Services. Additionally, he played a major role developing the areas of Student Life and Leadership, the Student Health Clinic, Intercollegiate Athletics, the Herrington Patriot Center, Recreational Sports and Intramurals, Office of International Programming, Campus Dining Services, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Campus Printing Services, UT Tyler’s Police Department, Emergency Management Planning & Response, Veteran’s Affairs, and Title IX programs.
A New England native, Dr. Patterson was born in Boston and is an alumnus of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was senior class president. He began his higher education career as men’s soccer coach and academic instructor at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. His prior experience also includes service as assistant professor and Athletics Director at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
Dr. Patterson has a long history of involvement with community service organizations. He served on the San Antonio Sports Foundation Board and was an elected member of the Whitehouse Independent School District (WISD) Board of Trustees, serving as president for two years. He served on the SPORTyler Committee and Keep Whitehouse Beautiful. He was a former member of the Smith County Bar Foundation and is the Past Chairman of the Tyler Chamber of Commerce, having served as the chairman of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Area Development Council, and Business Development Council.
Dr. Patterson’s wife is a retired Pre-K teacher, and they have three children. The oldest is a graduate of UT Tyler and in her tenth year as a junior high school mathematics teacher. Their second, also a graduate of UT Tyler and teaches 2nd grade. The youngest works for Stryker and is a graduate of Texas Tech University, where he was a member of the Honors College and on the 2015 Tech football team. He holds an MBA from UT Tyler.