SANTA FE, NM, November 11, 2004 –The St. John’s College Board of Visitors and Governors has chosen Michael Peters, Executive Vice President of the Council on Foreign Relations and a retired Army Colonel, to serve as the sixth president of the college’s Santa Fe campus.
During his nine years at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the premiere membership organization in the United States dedicated to international affairs, Mr. Peters served as Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Studies managing the research arm of the council. As Executive Vice President, Peters led an impressive revitalization of an important national institution.
Before his work at the Council on Foreign Relations, Peters capped an impressive military career by working as the Chief of Staff at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Peters says his experience at West Point will be invaluable at St. John’s. “West Point is, at its core, a college. Many of the issues that any college has to deal with West Point deals with—everything from student life to admissions to ensuring a high quality student body and faculty,” he said.
Sharon Bishop, chair of the St. John’s College Board of Visitors and Governors, says Peters is the most unmilitary military man she has met. “Mike is going to be a tremendous asset to the college. He has managed organizations large and small, academic, quasi-academic, and non-academic. He knows how to get things done, but he does it with tact and diplomacy. If you met him without benefit of his resume, you would never know that he was a career military officer," she said.
David Levine, dean of the Santa Fe campus, says Peters has spent most of his career working with young people and academics. Besides working with young people at West Point, Peters supervised a staff of over two hundred at the Council for Foreign Relations—many of whom were scholars. In addition to his accomplishments, “Peters is a man of such stature that he inspires trust and confidence from the moment you meet him,” said Levine.
Christopher Nelson, president of the college’s Annapolis campus, says Peters will bring a tremendous presence to the position. “Mike Peters brings a record of accomplishment, but more than that, he is a man of presence, stature, charm and grace. He will bring a lot to this position and, I think, a lot to Santa Fe. I like him and will enjoy working with him as a colleague,” he said. Nelson has been serving as interim president of the Santa Fe campus since former Santa Fe President John Balkcom resigned on August 31, 2003.
Louis Caldera, president of the University of New Mexico, said, “It is tremendously exciting news that Mike Peters will be the next president of St. John’s College in Santa Fe. His educational experience, national and international contacts, and high energy will make him a wonderful asset for all New Mexico.”
Michael Uremovich, chair of the search committee, said the search yielded an incredibly competitive pool of highly-accomplished candidates, of which, Peters was outstanding. “The three qualities we were looking for were leadership abilities, higher education experience, and an understanding of how non-profit institutions grow and thrive. With Mike Peters we have found everything we were seeking in abundance,” said Uremovich.
Mr. Peters earned a Master of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Washington in 1974 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1968.
During his 27 years in the Army, Mr. Peters served as a Platoon Commander in Vietnam, a professor of economics at West Point, a Soviet military specialist, and Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the buildup to the 1991 Gulf War, he led an elite special Civil Affairs Battalion tasked with working with local officials and populace in support of US military operations in Saudi Arabia. He finished his military career as conventional arms negotiator and as a college administrator at West Point. After retiring from the military as a Colonel, Mr. Peters went to work for the Council on Foreign Relations.
Peters says he is humbled by his selection and eager to get started. “I come to St. John’s College with an incredible amount of respect for the reputation of the college, the work the faculty and staff are doing, the commitment of the students, and the great support we have had from the alumni, the board and the Santa Fe community at large. I look forward to getting to know all of you better and look forward to helping St. John’s, a great college, become even greater.”
Mr. Peters is expected to assume his duties as president on January 17, 2005.
St. John’s College, with campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Annapolis, Maryland, is an independent, four-year, non-denominational liberal arts college. The integrated curriculum is based on the chronological study of the foundations of Western civilization, beginning with Homer, Sophocles, and Plato. St. John’s also offers two graduate degree programs through the Graduate Institute in Liberal Education, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and the Master of Arts in Eastern Classics. For more information, please contact St. John’s College, 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505-4599; 505-984-6000, visit our Web site at www.stjohnscollege.edu or email amaguran@sjcsf.edu.
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