Eric Patterson, Ph.D. '02, New White House Fellow

Among the 15 new White House Fellows appointed by President George Bush on June 19, 2007, is Eric Patterson, who completed his Ph.D. in Political Science at UCSB in 2002. The White House Fellows Program was founded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 "to offer exceptional young men and women first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government." Selection is "highly competitive and based on a record of remarkable professional achievement."

Eric is currently Assistant Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Gerogetown University. Previously, he was on the political science faculty of Vanguard University in California. From 2005-2007, he was a Foster Fellow in the U.S. State Department, doing research on the illicit international trade in small arms. He is the author of the recently published, The Pear Tree: Is Torture Ever Justified? (Clarity Press, 2006) and other books and articles on politics and religion.