Bio
Valerie L. Patterson is a Clinical Associate Professor in the public administration program. She teaches courses in human resource policy and management, administrative and governmental ethics, organization theory and behavior, and courses examining contemporary race and gender issues. Her most recent research examines government and its relationship with underserved communities and persistent social equity barriers in communities of color. She also serves as affiliated faculty with FIU’s African & African Diaspora Studies program and currently serves on its Steering Committee. She is also affiliated faculty with the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. Dr. Patterson has also held administrative appointments at Florida International University as the Assistant Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs and as Associate Director of the School of Policy and Management. On the national level, Dr. Patterson is a past chair of the Section on Historical, Artistic, and Reflective Expression (SHARE) of the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) and currently serves on the SHARE editorial board. She has served as a mentor in the Mandela Washington Fellows program. Her research interests have led to numerous conference and panel presentations focused on ethics, women in administration, and government and hip-hop culture. She has presented before the Leadership Training Institute of the National League of Cities, the Hip-Hop Journalism Association, International Trade and Finance Association, the Florida Association of Black Faculty and Staff, the Florida Association of Women in Education, the Conference of Minority Public Administrators, Florida Women in Government, Center for Nonprofit Management, the Education Trust, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, the Foundation for Democracy in Africa and numerous other organizations and groups. She has appeared on several television and radio programs discussing the topic of ethics and professionalism. She has worked on several local initiatives focused on the Overtown community, including three years on the St. John Community Development Corporation’s Board of Directors and for ten years served on the chair and a member of the steering committee of the annual event “Things Are Cooking in Overtown”. She is a past board member of the Youth Ethics Initiative Advisory Board and past member of the Miami-Dade County Ethics Task Force. She currently serves on the board of the South Florida Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.
