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.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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