The Patman Center for Civic and Political Engagement develops the next generation of public leaders.
The Center’s mission is to strengthen our democracy by cultivating skilled leaders who exemplify an ethos of civility, service, and bipartisanship.
The Center achieves this mission by providing students with extensive leadership training in a bipartisan environment, a working knowledge of our democratic government and opportunities for experiential learning, internships, and political mentoring.
Founders
Ambassador Carrin F. Patman and James V. Derrick, Jr. made the largest ever gift to UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs to establish The Patman Center for Civic and Political Engagement, which aims to strengthen democracy by training public service leaders and creating opportunities for civic participation through a big-tent approach to dialogue and debate. This is a historic $10M investment in The University of Texas at Austin and the next generation of civic leaders.
Carrin F. Patman
Carrin graduated from Duke University (B.A. 1978, with honors) and The University of Texas School of Law (J.D. 1982), where she was a member of the Texas Law Review. For three decades thereafter, she was a litigator at Bracewell, LLP, concentrating on high-stakes litigation, and was the first woman elected to Bracewell’s management committee. Carrin was the first woman chair of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, a role she held for six years. In 2022, President Biden nominated Carrin to be the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland, and she was confirmed the same year.
Carrin grew up in a political family. Her maternal grandfather, Fred Mauritz, served in the Texas State Senate, and her maternal grandmother, Carrin Foreman Mauritz, was a superintendent of schools. Her paternal grandfather, Wright Patman, served for 47 years in the United States Congress, where he chaired the Banking and Currency Committee, and was supported in all his endeavors by Carrin’s grandmother, Merle Connor Patman. Her father, Bill Patman, served in the Texas State Senate and the United States Congress. Her mother, Carrin Mauritz Patman, was active in the Democratic Party, serving on the State Democratic Executive Committee and on the Democratic National Committee and managing Bill’s many successful elections.
Carrin’s involvement with UT includes serving as president of the Law School Alumni Association, president of the Texas Law Review Association, Trustee and Senior Trustee of the Law School Foundation, and founding board member of the Center for Women in Law. She is a recipient of the Law School’s Distinguished Alumna for Community Service.
Carrin has served on numerous non-profit boards and chaired multiple fundraisers for good causes. She has received multiple awards recognizing her professional achievement combined with community service, including The Anti-Defamation League Southwest Region’s Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award.
James V. Derrick, Jr.
Jim, a sixth-generation Texan, graduated with honors from both The University of Texas at Austin (B.A., 1967) and The University of Texas School of Law (J.D., 1970), where he was a member of Chancellors and of the Texas Law Review. After serving as law clerk to the Honorable Homer Thornberry of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, he embarked on his career as a deal lawyer, concentrating on United States and international business, energy, and real estate matters.
Jim’s involvement with UT includes having served as President of the Law School Alumni Association, as a Trustee and a Senior Trustee of the Law School Foundation, as a life member of the UT Student Unions Advisory Committee, and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Law School.
He has served as Chairman of the Houston Bar Foundation, as Trustee of the Center for American and International Law, as Vice Chair of the Southwestern Legal Foundation Oil and Gas Education Center’s Advisory Board, and as a director of numerous business enterprises and nonprofit organizations.
He is a Life Member of the American Bar Foundation, the Houston Bar Foundation, and the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a recipient of The Anti-Defamation League Southwest Region’s Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award.
Mostly retired from his law practice, Jim manages his family’s business interests and investments while remaining actively engaged in non-profit endeavors. He is an avid golfer, a novice ukuleleist, and, with Carrin, the parent of two very beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Reddington and Trevor.
Advisory Board
Friends of The Patman Center will serve as advisory board members, helping to guide programming and activities.
Advisory Board to be announced.