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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of William
4M. Patterson, Ph.D., who passed away on April 2, 2024; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson, a native of Urbana, graduated from
6Urbana High School in 1984; he earned his Bachelor of Arts in
7Communications, Radio & Broadcast from Columbia College in
8Chicago in 1990, his Master of Science in Curriculum and
9Instruction from Illinois State University in Normal in 1994,
10and his Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the
11University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2000; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson worked as a clinical associate
13professor in the School of Music, College of Fine & Applied
14Arts at UIUC, and he also served as an adjunct lecturer in the
15School of Information Sciences and the College of
16Engineering's Technology Entrepreneurship Center; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson was heavily involved with Illinois
18Public Media, serving on the Community Advisory Board for
19Illinois Soul, the Black-focused radio service from Illinois
20Public Media that launched in February 2024; he also
21co-created Illinois Public Media's Youth Media Workshop,
22providing instruction to local Black youth on how to turn

 

 

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1interviews with their elders into stories for WILL radio and
2television; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson served in many other positions
4around the Champaign-Urbana area, including associate director
5of the Bruce Nesbitt African American Cultural Center on the
6UIUC campus and chief teen officer at the Don Moyer Boys and
7Girls Club in Champaign; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson belonged to numerous organizations
9over the course of his life, including serving on the boards of
10the Illinois Humanities Council, the Musical Arts Institute,
11and 40 North, co-founding the North End Breakfast Club and the
12Urban Business Network, Inc., and being a member of the
13University Smart Communities Initiative Committee at UIUC and
14the International Communication Association, among many more;
15and
 
16    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson was the recipient of a number of
17accolades, including being named a Department of Educational
18Policy Studies ICEOP Fellow by the UIUC in 1994, an Academy for
19Entrepreneurial Leadership Fellow by the UIUC in 2008, and a
20Fiddler Fellow by the National Center for Super Computing
21Applications in 2020; more recently, he was to receive the
22Distinguished Alumni Award from the Champaign Urbana Schools
23Foundation; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson, affectionately known as "Dr. P",
2was an educator who worked tirelessly to bring STEAM (science,
3technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education to
4under-resourced Black neighborhoods and to empower students to
5tell their own stories; as a director of the Hip Hop Xpress
6Double Dutch Boom Bus Innovation Lab & Data Center, he
7organized his work under STEAMGenius.org to promote Black
8cultural wealth, wealth he saw as rooted in and acquired by
9individuals in places and spaces that are undervalued,
10underestimated, and marginalized; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson was a pillar of the
12Champaign-Urbana African American community and will
13especially be remembered for his contributions to youth
14education and arts; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Representative Ammons held great admiration for
16Dr. Patterson and his work, acknowledging his contributions as
17a community genius; her daughter participated in his impactful
18All Girls Radio program, her sons and grandson benefited from
19his programs at the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club, and her
20husband, Clerk Aaron Ammons, collaborated with Dr. Patterson
21on SPEAK Café alongside the Krannert Center for the Performing
22Arts for 10 years, forming a close bond akin to brothers; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Dr. Patterson is survived by his wife, Lori Gold
2Patterson; three children; a grandchild; and a sister;
3therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
5HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
6SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we mourn the passing of William
7M. Patterson, Ph.D. and extend our sincere condolences to his
8family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
9further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11presented to the family of Dr. Patterson as an expression of
12our deepest sympathy.