wfn.org | Peterson to Head ELCA's Gustavus Adolphus College

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 18, 2003

PETERSON TO HEAD ELCA'S GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE
03-054-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. James L. Peterson will become the 14th
president of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., on July 7.
The college's board of trustees announced the appointment March 13.
Gustavus Adolphus is one of 28 colleges and universities of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
     Peterson, a 1964 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus, has been president
and CEO of the Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, for almost 20
years.	He earned a doctorate in entomology from the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln, in 1972.
     As a science teacher, Peterson taught in public high schools in
Peoria, Ill., and Osseo, Minn., before serving as a research associate
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  He was a staff ecologist for
two years with the National Commission on Water Quality, Washington,
D.C., and served from 1976 to 1984 as a vice president in the areas of
systematics and evolutionary biology, environmental research, and
institutional advancement at the Academy of Natural Sciences,
Philadelphia.
     Peterson succeeds Dr. Axel D. Steuer, who served as president of
Gustavus Adolphus from 1991 to 2002.  The Rev. Dennis J. Johnson,
Minneapolis, is serving as interim president.
     "I welcome Dr. Peterson to Gustavus with great anticipation," said
Warren Beck, Wayzata, Minn., chair of the college's board of trustees.
"The leadership skills and management style developed and demonstrated
throughout a successful career in the museum profession are ideally
suited to Gustavus' needs at this time," he said.
     Under Peterson's administration, the Science Museum of Minnesota
produced "Omnitheater" science education films, developed museum-based
continuing education programs, initiated a statewide outreach program to
schools and developed traveling science exhibitions.  The museum
maintained balanced annual budgets and enhanced its endowment, while
constructing a $100 million, 400,000-square-foot state-of-the art
facility overlooking the Mississippi River.
     "The invitation to serve as the president of Gustavus Adolphus
College, my alma mater and a model of excellence in higher education, is
an honor, a privilege and, in many ways, a new vocational calling,"
Peterson said.	"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to combine my
personal affection for this amazing institution with my professional
interest and history in lifelong learning," he said.
     "I look forward to working with an outstanding faculty, staff and
student body to sustain the college's unique traditions and promote its
bright future," said Peterson.
     Peterson is married to the Rev. M. Susan Peterson, senior pastor,
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul.  They have two adult children.
     Gustavus Adolphus, the oldest Lutheran college in Minnesota, was
founded in 1862 by Swedish immigrants and named for Swedish King Gustav
II Adolf.  It has an undergraduate enrollment of about 2,500 students.
-- -- --
     Gustavus Adolphus College has its home page at
http://www.gustavus.edu/ on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html