The committee searching for a new president for the Downtown Memphis Commission [DMC] has selected Memphian Terence Patterson.
Community Education Building
Patterson
Patterson is the current tresaurer of the DMC’s Center City Development Committee and has worked with the DMC for many years. He is the program director for education for the Hyde Family Foundation.
He’s a Harvard graduate with a Master of Business Adminstration from Northwestern, where he also earned his law degree.
He’s worked with Walt Disney Co. as a financial analyst, practiced corporate law with Kirkland & Ellis, and he then served as the interim executive officer of new schools for the Chicago Public Schools system. He returned to Memphis in 2011 to work with Hyde.
The DMC new-president search committee lauded Patterson. One member said in the search they hoped to find current president Paul Morris’ “twin brother” but, in Patterson, they believed they found “his cousin.”
“This guy loves Memphis; it’s his hometown,” Morris said. “He’s lived in Los Angeles and Chicago and with his credentials, he could work anywhere in the world he wants to. He wants to make this place better and recognizes how important Downtown is to making Memphis better.”
The recommendation will go before the entire DMC board next week.
The announcement comes after a months-long hunt to replace Morris. Morris has served a president for five years after serving as a volunteer member of the DMC board. He will leave at the end of the year to work for his father’s business, Jack Morris Auto Glass.
The DMC hired DHR International in its search for a new president. The Pittsburgh firm is responsible for finding Morris for the president’s position.
