John H. Patterson (1905–1951) of Greensburg, Pennsylvania was an American economist, academic and writer known for his progressive trade position during the debate over the Smoot-Hawley Act. With Paul O'Leary, he authored An Introduction to Money, Banking and Corporations in 1937.[1]
Patterson came from a railroad family. As an undergraduate at Cornell University, he served on the Student Council's Freshman Advisory Committee, joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, and through that organization was a member of the Irving Literary Society.[2] He took his bachelor's degree in economics in 1925, his master's degree in 1926 and his PhD in 1929. All degrees were conferred by Cornell University. He married a classmate, Ms. Anne Hubbel Seymour.
His first teaching position was instructor in economics at Washington Square College, New York University.[3] In 1934, he took leave from NYU and returned as acting assistant professor of economics at Cornell.[4] The next year he served as a lecturer in economics at the University of California at Berkeley.[5] In 1939, he became dean of men at Middlebury College and an associate professor of economics.
Prior to the outbreak of World War Two, he was asked to take a position with the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C.[6]