Jeffery R. Patterson is a lecturer in strategic communication, corporate political activity, Texas government and Issues in American politics and policy at the University of Texas at Austin. He earned is doctorate in the Moody College of Communication and has more than 20 years experience in political communications, policy advocacy, and institutional public relations management. For eight years he worked in the U.S. Congress as a deputy press secretary for U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen and as communications director for U.S. Congressman Michael A. Andrews. As a journalist, Patterson won awards for news reporting, feature writing, and newspaper and magazine design from the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the Texas Press Association, the Society for Technical Communication and the Council for the Advancement of Science Education.