A North Carolina native, Patricia Ann Patterson graduated summa cum laude from The University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a bachelor’s degree in interior design. She earned her post-graduate degree in fashion merchandising from The Tobe-Coburn School of Merchandising in New York receiving one of three fellowships awarded that year.
Patricia has a broad executive, commercial, and retail background, including stints at Lord and Taylor and Bloomingdale’s in New York, Rich’s in Atlanta, and Woodward & Lothrup in Washington, D.C. She has also worked at The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where she was heavily involved in publications and research. She also served as district coordinator for the Newark, New York School District Olympics of the Mind Program.
Active all her life in volunteer work, Patricia has served as chairperson of the Newark-Wayne (NY) Community Hospital Auxiliary hospital gift shop, chairperson of the American Red Cross Wayne County (NY) Blood Bank, chairperson of the Wayne County (NY) Environmental Study, co-chairperson of the French-American Back-to-Back Program, assistant coach for Olympics of the Mind at the junior high level, and parent adviser for Students Against Drunk Driving. She was instrumental in starting a program for gifted and talented children in the Newark (NY) School District.
Patricia lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, with her husband.