Patrick Dorton ’90

Patrick Dorton ’90 is CEO and managing partner of Rational 360, a leading corporate communications and public relations firm based in Washington, D.C. He founded the company in 2003 after serving as the chief spokesman and director of media relations at global accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP during its 2002 Enron-related crisis and subsequent dissolution. In July 2020, Rational 360 acquired Strategic Heights, a consulting firm founded by President Clinton’s White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. Rational 360’s clients include AOL, AT&T, C.V. Starr & Co., GE, George Washington University, Microsoft, and Yale. This past year, the firm was hired by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for strategic communications support. Prior to launching his career in the private sector, Mr. Dorton was special assistant to President Clinton and communications director for the White House National Economic Council. He also served as the press secretary for Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, and the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1996 to 1999. He was deputy press secretary for the Democratic National Committee in 1994 and 1995, and for Alabama Senator Richard Shelby from 1991 to 1993. Mr. Dorton is the board chair of the Frederick Gunn School and a former trustee of the Aidan Montessori School in Washington, D.C.