Barbara Patton (born March 28, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

She was born on March 28, 1944, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She attended St. Peter Claver Elementary School and All Saints Commercial High School. She married and had two children, and lived in

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Places United States *Freeport, California *Freeport, Florida *Freeport, Illinois *Freeport, Indiana *Freeport, Iowa *Freeport, Kansas *Freeport, Maine, a New England town **Freeport (CDP), Maine, the ...

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Island ...

. When her children were in their early teens, she returned to school. She graduated

A.A.S. An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

in Business Administration from

Kingsborough Community College Kingsborough Community College (KBCC) is a public community college in Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the only community college in Brooklyn.B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

in 1979, and J.D. from

Hofstra Law School The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (commonly known as Hofstra Law) is a law school located in Hempstead, New York on Long Island, affiliated with Hofstra University. Founded in 1970 and accredited by the ABA in 1971, the sc ...

in 1982. She also entered politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. She was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(18th D.) from 1983 to 1988, sitting in the 185th, 186th and

187th New York State Legislature The 187th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7, 1987, to December 31, 1988, during the fifth and sixth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgroun ...

s. On May 18, 1987, Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as t ...

nominated Patton as Chairwoman of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board. She was confirmed by the State Senate in January 1988, and remained in office until 1994. Afterwards she was a Vice President of

Nynex NYNEX Corporation was an American telephone company that served five states of New England (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) as well as most of the state of New York from January 1, 1984 to August 14, 1997. History ...

, and took part in the company's merger with

Bell Atlantic Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

in 1997. She was the Democratic Co-Commissioner of Elections for Nassau County from April 1999 to July 2002. She resigned this post to become an assistant professor of Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business at Hofstra University's Frank G. Zarb School of Business. In May 2003, she announced that she would run for Supervisor of the

Town of Hempstead The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on t ...

, but withdrew from the race in August.''1 Campaign, but 2 Names on the Ballot''
by Joseph Mallia, in ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', on August 30, 2003 (subscription required)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Barbara 1944 births Living people People from Nassau County, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Women state legislators in New York (state) Hofstra University alumni Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni African-American state legislators in New York (state) African-American women in politics Hofstra University faculty American women academics 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women