- Presidential Biography : President Peterson's biography
- Campus Progress: Gustavus' progress in planning for the future
- Strategic Directions
- Mission and Core Values:
- Faith and Learning: Gustavus' commitment to diverse learning
- NCA Self Study: North Central Association Comprehensive Evaluation
- Message from the Academic Deans: From the Office of the Provost
- PACD: President's Advisory Committee on Diversity
James L. Peterson, President
James L. Peterson, Ph.D., has been named the 14th President of Gustavus Adolphus College. Since 1984 Dr. Peterson has been president and CEO of the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Under Peterson's leadership, the science museum became a major producer of Omnitheater science education films; built one of the largest membership programs in the country for a single science museum; developed one of the most extensive and diverse museum-based continuing education programs in the country; initiated an innovative statewide outreach program to schools; and became one of the most successful developers of traveling science exhibitions among the nation's major museums. Throughout his tenure, the museum maintained balanced annual budgets and significantly enhanced its endowment. Also, he was at the center of planning and fundraising that resulted in the construction of a new publicly/privately funded $100 million, 400,000 square-foot state-of-the art facility overlooking the Mississippi River.
Active in the national and international museum communities, Dr. Peterson served on the Accreditation Commission of the American Association of Museums and on the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for Education and Human Resources, and co-chaired an international science center initiative on equity and diversity. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Science-Technology Centers and is a past president.
Dr. Peterson began his career as a high school science teacher. He taught in Peoria, Ill., and Osseo, Minn., before leaving to pursue his doctorate. After receiving his Ph.D., Peterson served as a research associate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison for two years. He then made the transition to the National Commission on Water Quality in Washington, D.C., where he was a staff ecologist. From 1976-1984, Peterson served as a vice president in the areas of systematics and evolutionary biology, environmental research, and institutional advancement at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.
Dr. Peterson holds a B.A. in biology from Gustavus Adolphus College (1964) and a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1972).
