Texarkana Independent School District names Dr. Daniel W. Barnette and C. Cary Patterson as 2019 Distinguished Alumni

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Texarkana Independent School District will honor two of their own, Dr. Daniel W. Barnette (Texas High School Class of 1971) and C. Cary Patterson (Texas High School Class of 1970), as the 2019 Distinguished Alumni during events to be held on Monday, April 22.

A Student Leadership Breakfast will be held from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. at the Dan Haskins Student Center at Texas High School, 2112 Kennedy Lane. The event will offer leadership students from Texas Middle School and Texas High School the opportunity to hear from the honorees to learn first-hand how the example that you set for others, and for yourself, begins at an early age in order to build a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.

From 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., a Distinguished Alumni Luncheon will be held at Northridge Country Club, 120 Bill Rogers Drive, where the two individuals will be presented and awarded the honor of 2019 Distinguished Alumni. Seating is limited and reservations are required by contacting Tina Veal-Gooch at 903.794.3651 ext. 1013 or tvg@txkisd.net.

Following graduation from Texas High School in 1971, Dr. Daniel Barnette received his Associate in Arts from Texarkana College in 1973. He continued his education at the University of Texas at Austin earning a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1976 and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1977.

While at UT, Barnette’s work involved experimental and theoretical analysis of the exhaust blow-by effects on a rocket while exiting from a launch tube. Additionally, he conducted Mach 5 tests in the UT high-speed wind tunnel for NASA-Johnson Space Center. These tests simulated the bow and wing shock wave interactions near the wing root region of the then-developing U.S. space shuttle configuration.

Barnette was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Aeronautics/Astronautics in 1984 from Stanford University with a dissertation on innovative solution algorithms for the finite-differenced parabolized Navier-Stokes equations used in supersonic flow computer modeling.

His professional career began with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1977 as a member of the Aeroballistics Division. During this time, Barnette helped conduct and analyze wind tunnel tests while also working with 6-degree of freedom computer codes for various nuclear weapon aerodynamic configurations. Following a short break to complete his PhD at Stanford University, he returned to Sandia in the fall of 1983 to continue his work with the Aeroballistics Division. In 1993, Barnette joined the Parallel Computational Sciences Department of Sandia Laboratories.

Some of his work with Sandia included the evaluation testing for supporting and maintaining Intel’s Teraflops Supercomputer (ASCI Red) and design/development of test, evaluation and database software for Sandia’s clusters and supercomputers.

Barnette designed and developed PYLOTDB, a suite of Python codes for creating, populating, managing, accessing and analyzing MySQL databases. The suite was copyrighted and designated as open source software for use by the scientific community at large. He has been awarded two U.S. patents, four software copyrights and authored 30 publications.

Following his retirement from Sandia in 2014, Barnette served as an Associate Professor with the Mechanical Engineering Department for LeTourneau University until 2018. He taught classes in Statics, Materials Science, Computer Programming with Python and Raspberry Pi computers, Engineering and Vibrations, Mechanisms & Kinematics. Research projects during that time included parallel computing with Raspberry Pi computers and the beginning stages of working on drone swarms using Raspberry Pi’s coupled with attached flight controller circuitry.

Barnette lives in Veguita, New Mexico with his wife Shelly. They have three sons – Travis, Trevor and Taylor.

Cary Patterson graduated from Texas High School in 1970. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Texas at Austin in 1973 and his Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio in 1975.

Patterson began his legal career defending product liability and negligence cases in East Texas and Southwest Arkansas.

In 1986, he partnered with Harold Nix and began representing plaintiffs in important product liability, toxic tort and other complex civil cases. For the last 33 years, Patterson has been instrumental in the firm’s success and in leading Nix Patterson to the forefront of some of the most high-profile litigation in the country. Under his leadership, the law firm has amassed an impressive list of significant recoveries for a wide-range of clients in diverse practice areas.

Patterson played a vital role in the firm’s representation of the State of Texas in the historic Texas tobacco litigation where the firm and its co-counsel recovered over $17 billion for the State of Texas. In 2009, he was lead council for the plaintiffs securing a $45.5 million judgement against Chevron for underpaid natural gas royalties to the governments and to Native Americans. Patterson was involved in the British Petroleum (BP) litigation representing the State of Florida following the devastating 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Nix Patterson and co-counsel were key to the State of Florida securing a $3 billion settlement. In March 2019, Nix Patterson, obtained a historic $270 million settlement against Purdue Pharma in the State of Oklahoma opioid litigation. Although the settlement was only with Purdue Pharma, the firm will represent other defendants in a trial in May. The trial will be the first in the nation that could determine pharmaceutical companies’ role in the nation’s opioid crisis.

Patterson is licensed to practice in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma as well as the U.S. District Court – Western District of Arkansas and the U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Texas. Likewise, he is admitted to practice in the Fifth and Eighth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. Patterson served on the Executive Board of Texas Trial Lawyers Association for six years including serving as a Director and Associate Director. He is currently a member of the Bowie County, Morris County, Northeast Texas and the American Bar Associations, the State Board of Texas, the East Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

Patterson serves on the Foundation Boards of Texarkana College and Texas A&M University – Texarkana. He is a minority owner of the Houston Astros and serves on their Board of Directors. In October 2018, the new Student Center at Texas A&M University –Texarkana was named in honor of he and his wife, Lois. Earlier this year, Patterson was the recipient of the C.E. Palmer Award, Texarkana’s most prestigious honor for public service and a lifetime of altruism.

The Patterson’s have two sons, Ty and Chad, and seven grandchildren.

Since 1992, TISD has sponsored a Distinguished Alumni Awards program to recognize the outstanding personal and professional achievements of their alumni. These outstanding former Texas High School and Dunbar High School graduates are models to current and future alumni in terms of their professional, leadership and ethical standards. Past award recipients have been: Rep. Marvin L. Abney, Truman Arnold, Dr. Lenox Dial Baker, Miller Barber, Melvin L. Bradley, Dr. Karen D. Bradshaw, Billy C. Burnett, Ned Burns, Dr. Lanny G. Chasteen, Dr. William Dorland, Lt. Col. Norman K. “Ken” Dyson, Carl Finch, Theron Goynes, Dan Haskins, Ethel Pauley Jones, David Kusin, Gary Kusin, Prudence Mackintosh, Donald Ray McNeal, George McWilliams, Rick Minter, Jerry “Boo” Mitchell, Jr., Josh R. Morriss, Martha W. Morriss, Lt. Col. Daniel J. Oosterhous, H. Ross Perot, Dan S. Petty, Col. Willie R. Pollard, Jr., Collin Raye, Bill Rogers, Melanie Kusin Rowe, Marjorie Scardino, Vicki Schultz, Robert Wickliffe “Wick” Temple, Dr. David Tilson, III, Sheilah Walker and Dr. E. Steve Woodle.

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