Patrick Shea

Patrick Shea was one of Friends of Alta’s co-founders along with Alta’s first Mayor, Bill Levitt, and his wife, Mimi.

Pat earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and earned a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School. Pat would later teach courses at Harvard University, Stanford University, Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, Kansas State University, and Westminster College (Utah).

Pat has practiced law in Salt Lake City since 1980 and is recognized as an expert in natural resource law and constitutional law. Pat also worked as counsel to the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the drafting process of the Taiwan Relations Act, as a commissioner on the Gore Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, as Director of the Bureau of Land Management and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management under President Clinton, as a member of the Graduate Studies Committee at Yale University, and as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Huntsman Center for Global Competition and Innovation at the Wharton School of Business.

Pat also served as Chair of the Utah Democratic Party in 1983, where he led state presidential campaigns for notable candidates. He was also the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate election in Utah in 1994.