Frederick D. Patterson

Frederick Douglass Patterson (October 10, 1901 – April 26, 1988) was an American academic administrator, teacher, and university president. He was the president of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University; 1935–1953), and founder of the United Negro College Fund (1944, UNCF). He was a 1987 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, and 1988 recipient of the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.

Patterson was born on October 10, 1901, in Washington, D.C., to Mamie Lucille and William Ross Patterson. He was named after the great abolitionist and D.C. resident Frederick Douglass. Patterson was orphaned by the age of two when both of his parents died from tuberculosis. He then moved in with his sister Bessie, his primary caregiver, who sacrificed to ensure him a good education. She dedicated nearly half her $20 monthly salary to enroll him in the private elementary school of Samuel Huston College (currently Huston-Tillotson University). Thelma Dale Perkins, born in 1915, was a niece of his.

By the age of 31, Patterson had attained three educational degrees: a Doctorate degree of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Science degree from Iowa State University (ISU), and a Doctorate of Philosophy from Cornell University.

He studied in the Agriculture Department at the Prairie View Normal and Industrial Institute (now Prairie View A&M University) in Texas, where he first became interested in veterinary medicine. Later, he enrolled at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) in the College of Veterinary Medicine, where he graduated with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1923 and a Master of Science in 1927. Patterson was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

His journey to academic accomplishment was not without its roadblocks. He was the only African American working at the Iowa State College veterinary clinic, where he learned important personal lessons about race and society. In his autobiography, reflecting on the experiences, he writes, "I learned a lesson with regard to race that I never forgot: how people feel about you reflects the way you permit yourself to be treated. If you permit yourself to be treated differently, you are condemned to an unequal relationship." Furthermore, he had to maintain employment while studying because he had no other source of income (other than what his sister Bessie could give him), working at both a sorority house and a hotel.

He earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1932 in Veterinary Pathology from Cornell University, where he was inducted to Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Patterson taught veterinary medicine for four years at Virginia State College while serving as the director of the Department of Agriculture. From there, he became head of the Veterinary Division, then the director of the School of Agriculture at the Tuskegee Institute. While director of the Veterinary Division, the program attracted even white students due to its prestige, a rare occurrence for an HBCU in the segregated South.

In 1935, at the young age of 33, he had distinguished himself enough to be named the third President of Tuskegee Institute.