[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 27]
[Senate]
[Pages 36136-36137]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO DR. DOUGLAS C. PATTERSON

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, today I commend a distinguished 
resident of the State of Alabama, Dr. Douglas C. Patterson on the 
occasion of his retirement from Troy University. Upon receiving his 
bachelor's degree from Alabama College in 1967, Patterson was 
commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a 
platoon commander for a Combat Engineer Platoon and as an intelligence 
officer for the First Engineer Battalion of the First Marine Division 
in the Republic of Vietnam.
  Upon returning from Vietnam, Patterson received his masters from the 
University of Montevallo and his doctorate from the University of 
Alabama. Dr. Patterson's experience includes serving as a high school 
counselor, director of Counseling and Career Services at Jefferson 
State Junior College, vice president for instruction at the Alabama 
Institute for the Deaf and Blind and currently, he serves as the senior 
vice chancellor for administration for Troy University.
  Dr. Patterson has served Troy University with great honor and 
distinction as a senior administrator since 1989 and has provided 
exemplary service to the university and to the citizens of the State of 
Alabama. During his tenure as senior vice chancellor for 
administration, Dr. Patterson directed the institution's finance and 
budgeting, information technology, institutional effectiveness, 
television and radio, strategic planning, athletics, and day-to-day 
operations. Under his leadership, the University has enjoyed an 
unprecedented era of growth, doubling worldwide student enrollment to 
almost 30,000 students. Dr. Patterson has been instrumental in Troy 
University's glowing record of stewardship and financial stability, 
garnering praise and awards from the National Association of College 
and University Business Officers and earning TROY recognition as a 
``Best Value'' university from such publications as MONEY Magazine and 
The Princeton Review. Dr. Patterson played a key role in the

[[Page 36137]]

university's decision to move Troy University athletics to the highest 
level of NCAA competition, bringing national recognition to the 
university and fostering pride among its students, alumni, and friends. 
Dr. Patterson was recently honored by Troy University as the Honorary 
Alumnus of the Year for 2007.
  I commend Dr. Douglas C. Patterson, on the occasion of his retirement 
from Troy University, for his leadership in Alabama higher education 
and for his outstanding service to Alabama and our country.

                          ____________________