Patrice Williamson-Thomas

Shelby County Mayor-elect Lee Harris announced Tuesday, Aug. 28, Patrice Williamson-Thomas will serve as chief administrative officer – Harris’ first major appointment in his administration.

Williamson-Thomas currently serves as deputy chief operating officer for the city of Memphis.

“Patrice Thomas is the best possible leader to serve as our next CAO,” Harris said in an emailed statement. “Our next chief administrative officer must be nimble, progressive and capable of translating our vision for ‘A New Era’ into the day-to-day execution of county government. Patrice proved to be the most qualified candidate and I am confident that she will make a lasting impact on the residents of Shelby County.”

She first started working for the city of Memphis as comptroller in 2004, where she served for nearly 10 years and later became the deputy director of public works – neighborhood improvement for the city of Memphis.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland praised the appointment in the release.

“Patrice Thomas was one of the key members of our team in just about every initiative we’ve taken on the past two and a half years,” Strickland said. “She is a major reason why we’ve been able to successfully tackle so many challenges. She is a spectacular public servant and an even better person. Mayor-elect Harris just hit a home run.”

Williamson-Thomas previously served as a senior financial analyst at Smith & Nephew and manager at First Tennessee’s corporate controller’s division.

She graduated from Memphis Central High School, Christian Brothers University and the University of Memphis.

She will begin her role as CAO Thursday.

Following the announcement, Harris’ transition team met for the second time at Leadership Memphis. Harris was not at the meeting; transition team co-chair Paul Thomas said Harris had a schedule conflict.

Transition team members were divided into groups of six and met to discuss ideas on pointing out strengths and weaknesses on issues such as criminal justice, economic and business development and education.

The committees will have their final reports to Harris in October.

The transition team is scheduled to meet again in two weeks.