About James E. (Jim) Patterson

About James E. (Jim) Patterson

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Award-winning diplomat, economist, and journalist James Patterson is a life member of the American Foreign Service Assoc., life member of Auburn Univ. Alumni Assoc., members of the Indiana and Alabama State Societies in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the National Foreign Affairs Center, Arlington Hall. He did graduate studies at Georgetown Univ. on the economic and agricultural policies of the European Union and the United Kingdom. During the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, he served as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) in Foggy Bottom (Ward Two/SMD2A04), in D.C. See the above Certificate of Election.

As a U.S. diplomat, Patterson worked on the Iran-Iraq War, the First Gulf War, inter-agency export sales assistance for Jordan, Israel, and other Mideast countries. He survived earthquakes (6.5 magnitude), assaults, and intestinal parasites in Mexico City where he did early work implementing NAFTA I. In Rio de Janeiro, Patterson met international tennis stars Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles. When agents from the former Yugoslavia attempted to abduct Seles, Patterson and his U.S. delegation were involved in a tense international situation. He was profiled in the New York Times in 1995.

Patterson’s dad, a Korean War veteran, served with Alabama’s Army National Guard (1962-67) for the Cuban Missile crisis, the integration of the Univ. of Alabama, and the third Selma to Montgomery civil rights march led by Nobel Peace Prize-recipients Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr. Ralph Bunche. In 2014, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley posthumously honored the senior Patterson for his service to “Alabama, the nation and the world.” The younger Patterson appears as a reporter in 2014’s Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning “Selma.” In 2018, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commissioned Patterson an Honorary Colonel in Alabama’s National Guard. His mom was named Helen in honor of Alabamian Helen Keller. He is an alumnus of the Honor Fraternity of Alpha Zeta. President George H.W. Bush awarded Patterson a Federal Employee Point of Light Award for his work on hunger with D.C. area food banks.

In California, 2007-2016, he held a security level position at U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA, during the Oscar Grant protests (“Fruitvale Station”), PG&E’s gas explosion in San Bruno, the 2011 sniper attack on PG&E’s Metcalf substation, the 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino, and the murder of Kate Steinle. In 2014, President Barack Obama invited Patterson to the White House for the unveiling of the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp. ?Patterson accompanied the Honorable Carol Ruth Silver to San Francisco City Hall for the stamp's unveiling. (Mrs. Silver served with Milk on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors)

As an undergraduate at Auburn University, Patterson worked for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Campaign. He attended the 1976 GOP National Convention in Kansas City where Ronald Reagan challenged Ford for the presidential nomination. Patterson regularly visits the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, MI, and the Ford Library in Ann Arbor.

James Patterson is a past commentator for Al Jazeera Media Group, Washington, D.C. and Doha, Qatar; and Indus News, Lahore, Pakistan. A longtime Washingtonian, Patterson’s journalism, reviews and essays appear in Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Service Journal, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News, and many others. ?

He is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and The Authors Guild. ?

See https://go.authorsguild.org/members/4150 LinkedIn https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/james-patterson-474002a8/ X https://x.com/DiplomatJEP Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiplomacyTaughtHere

Courses Taught:

Principles of Economics, Northern Virginia Community College, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, Campus.

Agricultural Marketing, Graduate School, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Commodity Marketing, Graduate School, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Environmental Marketing, Graduate School, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Presentations:

"Explosions in My Life: From Auburn's Historic 1978 Gas Explosion to Washington on September 11, 2001," Auburn Public Library. 2023.

"Explosions," A sermon, St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, Auburn, Alabama. 2023.

"My Role in the Film 'Selma'", H. Grady Bradshaw Library, (Chamber County Library) Valley, Alabama. 2020.

"My Role in the Film 'Selma'", Hawkes Library, West Point, GA. 2015

"Selma," A sermon, St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, Auburn, Alabama. 2015.

"Recollections of Selma," William Penn House, Washington, D.C. 2015

"My Role in the Film 'Selma'" Charles Beatley Public Library, Alexandria, Virginia. 2017

Introduction to "The Whales of August," San Francisco Public Library. 2013. Note: "The Whales of August" is a 1987 film about aging in rural America.

Introduction to "Way Down East," Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, 2013. Note: "Way Down East" is a 1920 silent film about rural America.