Alumni Hall of Fame
John G. Peters
John G. Peters received his doctorate in Political Science in 1965 from UIUC after completing an A.B. at John Carroll University and M.A. at Ohio University. In 1973 he obtained appointment as assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He achieved the rank of associate professor in 1978 and professor in 1983. At Nebraska he served as associate dean with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Peters was appointed Provost of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1993. His achievements included new scholarship programs and the establishment of endowments for key academic areas. It captured the coveted ranking of "Best Buy" by U.S. News and World Report for three straight years: 1994, 1995 and 1996.
In June 2000 Dr. Peters assumed the presidency of Northern Illinois University (NIU), a comprehensive university with more than twenty-four thousand students and three regional campuses. Since his appointment, Dr. Peters has guided NIU to admittance to the both the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the Universities Research Association. He has further enhanced its research program and resource base with a $4.2 million grant for a particle accelerator in a partnership with Fermilab and a $20 million facility to house the College of Business.
Dr. Peters has served the discipline as associate editor of Great Plains Quarterly, as co-chair of the editorial board for Premiere, and as external reviewer for a number of journals. He has received numerous awards for teaching and service and was named "The students' provost" by the University of Tennessee student newspaper.