Dr. Douglas M. Patterson passed away at the age of eighty-one on May 10, 2026, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Patterson was a distinguished professor of finance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He grew up in Superior, Wisconsin, and received his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, followed by a Master of Business Administration and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Patterson found deep fulfillment in his career as a tenured faculty member at Virginia Tech, where he was a recipient of the university’s Teaching Excellence Award. His research focused on statistical behavior of the stock and bond markets and the theory of stock market price dynamics. His expertise in nonlinear time series statistics led to numerous grants from the National Science Foundation, Naval Surface Weapons Center, the United States Navy, and the Learning Resources Center at Virginia Tech. He co-authored the book, “A Nonlinear Time Series Workshop: A Toolkit for Detecting and Identifying Nonlinear Serial Dependence,” and authored many articles and chapters for academic publications. He is an inductee and recipient of Marquis Who’s Who Worldwide Lifetime Achievement Award (2017).

In 2007, Dr. Patterson was appointed program director for the BB&T (now Truist Bank) Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, which focused on issues in business management, government policy, and capitalism. As part of the BB&T program, he greatly enjoyed teaching courses comparing alternative economic systems to free markets and to welcoming speakers such as Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan and former Virginia Governor James Gilmore.

Before receiving his doctorate in finance, Dr. Patterson began his career at Westinghouse Electric, where he worked on aircraft jammers that defended U.S. aircraft against radar-guided surface-to-air missiles during the Vietnam War.

He will be remembered and cherished for his devotion to his family, his dry wit, encyclopedic knowledge, and numerous interesting hobbies over his lifetime, including broadcasting and deejaying a radio station from his home as a teenager in the 1950s and later deejaying for stations in Superior and Madison.

Dr. Patterson is survived by his devoted wife of 55 years, Sara; his daughter, Cara, and son-in-law, John Horchos, of Villanova, Pennsylvania; his son, John Patterson, and daughter-in-law, Melissa, of Denver, Colorado; and his four grandchildren, Stella and Elise Horchos and Lucas and Hannah Patterson. He is also survived by his sister, Marion (Maia) Lamont, of San Marcos, California, and his niece, Rachel Adams, of Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. He is preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Ruth Patterson, and by his niece, Rhetta Wilson.

His funeral will take place in the Funeral Home of John Stretch 236 E.Eagle Rd. Havertown, Pennsylvania 19083 with a viewing on Saturday afternoon May 16, 2026 at 1pm, followed by a service at 2pm.

Private family burial will take place in Greenwood Cemetery, Superior, WI.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation in his honor to the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering scholarship fund at https://tinyURL.com/UWscholarshipEngineering