Patrick S. Portway receives A&S Distinguished Alumni Award

Each year, the UC College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award is given to an established alumnus who is outstanding in their chosen field and whose significant contributions have benefited the community, state, nation, college or university. 

As the son of a widowed mother, Portway assumed the financial burden of his UC education, working as a dry cleaner delivery driver and earning money to cover the cost of school, which he initially attended in the evenings. He switched to full-time student status after his first year, recognizing it would cost more but ultimately allowing him to earn his degree much sooner.

Starting as a physics major, Portway took rigorous classes in math, science and technology while balancing a part-time job and his duties as a member of the UC Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Midway through his college career, he changed majors to political science with a concentration in Russian studies, taking classes in Russian language, government and history.

Upon graduation, Portway landed a job with the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C. After basic officer infantry training, he worked in Army Intelligence and served in the 116th Counterintelligence Corps Group as a management intern specializing in automated data and telecommunications administration. He was a member of the security detail for President Lyndon Johnson’s inauguration. 

Leaving his work in government to join the private sector, Portway worked for many leading companies, including Xerox as manager of strategic marketing; Boeing as a congressional liaison; and Satellite Business Systems, a company founded in partnership by IBM, Aetna, and COMSAT. Working for American Satellite, he sold and oversaw the implementation of satellite networks to such companies as Crocker National Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

An innovator who realized the potential for videoconferencing well before Zoom, Portway published the book “Teleconferencing & Distance Learning” in 1992. In 1980, he had formed his own company, Applied Business TeleCommunications, and also ran TeleCon, the largest conference on teleconferencing and distance learning, until 1998, when he sold his company.

Portway holds a master’s of arts from the University of Maryland in Public Administration. He has been honored by many civic and industry organizations, including: the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award; Inductee, Worldwide Lifetime Achievement; Who's Who in America; Award for Higher Education, Rotary Intl.; Distinguished Service Award, JCI, Inc.; Who's Who in Finance & Business; Who's Who in America; the Rotary International Award for Higher Education; U.S. Jaycees Foundation, Outstanding Young Man of America; and the Global Distance Learning Assoc. He has served as an advisory board member for the National University Technology Network and founded the U.S. Distance Learning Association.

Featured image at top: UC's Uptown campus. Credit/UC Creative + Brand.