Dr. Peter B. Petersen

Dr. Peter B. Petersen

Vero Beach, FL

Dr. Peter B. Petersen, a retired US Army infantry colonel and Johns Hopkins professor, died on October 18, 2017 at his home in Vero Beach, Florida at the age of 84. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of Marius and Agnes Petersen. He and his wife Jan have been married for 62 years.



Dr. Petersen, a child of the Great Depression from a humble background, lived a life of grit and determination. Drafted during the Korean War, he rose from private to full colonel in the U.S. Army. In the early Cold War, he served in the 82nd Airborne Division and graduated from the elite U.S. Army Ranger School. In 1962, as a captain in the 5th Special Forces Group, he was deployed to Vietnam to help establish Green Beret operational bases and work with local tribes to interdict supply lines and stop communist soldiers utilizing the Ho Chi Minh trail. In 1968, just months after the Tet Offensive, he returned to Vietnam as an infantry battalion commander leading 814 men in the heavily contested Mekong Delta. For his Vietnam actions, Colonel Petersen was awarded the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with "V" Device, Air Medal with "V" Device with 16 Oak Leaf Clusters, and Army Commendation with "V" Device. In 2006, he was inducted into the Army's Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.

During his 26-year Army career, he earned a doctorate from George Washington University, and joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins. At 46, Colonel Petersen, now known as Dr. Petersen, started his second career as Director, Division of Business & Administration at Johns Hopkins. Petersen continuously solicited student feedback on how the Johns Hopkins experience could improve. A member of Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, he appreciated the insight provided by fellow members. He authored three books and 67 peer-reviewed papers. For his work in management history he received the John Fee prize and Richard Irwin award from the Academy of Management.

On May 25, 2006, just months before retiring and shortly before his 74th birthday, Dr. Petersen gave the commencement address at the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education, which he considered a career highlight. Over the years, he taught nearly six thousand MBA students and retained friendships with many of them. Upon his retirement, the Board of Trustees at Johns Hopkins granted Dr. Petersen Professor Emeritus status.



Always adventurers and enthusiastic travelers, Pete and Jan visited every continent. Not content to merely sightsee, they climbed the mountain jungle to see Rwandan gorillas, rode an ice cutter to Antarctica, and visited remote Asian locales. Dr. Petersen ventured into China shortly after Tiananmen Square, and at 65 climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.



In addition to Jan, he is survived by three sons and their wives: John and Charlotte of Vero Beach, FL; William and Melissa of Foster City, CA; and James and Amy of Conshohocken, Pa. He is also survived by eight grandchildren: Johnny, Ellie, Kate, Julie, Eric, Matt, Jack, and Will, each of whom had a special place in his heart. Over the years he has had several Labrador Retrievers whom he loved so much. When asked what he liked to do most, he would always answer "be with my family and write".

A Celebration of Life will be held at Strunk Funeral Home in Vero Beach on October 28 at 2:00 pm. A private burial with full honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in the months to follow.

The Petersen family would like to thank Dr. William McGarry, Dr. Stuart Byer, Dr. Michael Tonner, their staffs and the staff of the VNA Hospice.

An online guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com