John H. Patterson (1905–1951) of Greensburg, Pennsylvania was an American economist, academic and writer known for his progressive trade position during the debate over the Smoot-Hawley Act.
As an undergraduate at Cornell University, he served on the Student Council's Freshman Advisory Committee, joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, and through that organization was a member of the Irving Literary Society.
His first teaching position was instructor in economics at Washington Square College, New York University.
[3] In 1934, he took leave from NYU and returned as acting assistant professor of economics at Cornell.
Prior to the outbreak of World War Two, he was asked to take a position with the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C.[6]