UTSA Carlos Alvarez College of Business graduate and Houston native, Patrick Farrell ’13, was highly involved in his studies and student activities during his four and a half years at the university. While achieving his bachelor’s degree in business administration, he was the President of the Rowdy Crew and a student representative for the UTSA Athletic Council Committee. Having such a strong connection to his alma mater, he has recently dedicated his time to growing UTSA’s support system of alumni in Houston.

In the fall of 2022, Patrick was elected to President of UTSA’s Alumni Association’s Houston Chapter and has spent his first months in office assembling a leadership team and significantly increasing the alumni participation rate within the group.

“When I was deciding where to attend college, I loved UTSA and knew it was for me. I really liked that it was an up and coming school,” expressed Patrick. “Being asked to become president of the Houston Alumni Chapter was an honor. I was excited to grow us to a bigger group and make an even larger impact for the university and its graduates. 

Patrick and the Houston Alumni Chapter’s leadership team recognized that with the cancellation of events over the past couple of years due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was important to reinvigorate the chapter with social opportunities and regain pre-pandemic participation. Under Patrick’s direction, the new Houston Alumni Chapter’s leadership team was able to increase event attendance three-fold this past fall. They look forward to planning and hosting even more alumni events in the coming year and involving more recent UTSA graduates.

“We are working towards getting our young alumni involved, especially those who are graduating and moving back to Houston,” said Patrick. “My focus is to continue bringing in new faces, and eventually begin raising funds to help support current students and programs at UTSA.”

Patrick has spent the last five years working for Ferguson Enterprises, a leading North American distribution company. In 2022, he was promoted to branch manager of the company. He hopes to continue helping other young alumni through the Houston Alumni Chapter as they pursue their professional careers.