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Dr.
Robert C. Maxson
Dr.
Curtis L. McCray
Dr.
Stephen Horn
Dr.
Carl W. McIntosh
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Dr. P. Victor
Peterson
(July 1949-June 1959)
Dr. P. Victor Peterson served as
the first president of California State University, Long Beach,
from 1949 to 1959.
When he died in 1979 at the age of
87, the current president of the university, Dr. Stephen Horn, said:
"Dr. Peterson was a fortunate man. He had the dedication and energy
to begin soundly a great university and to live to see it well underway
in meeting the needs of a diverse regional, national, and international
population. We shall sorely miss his care and his involvement."
Dr. Peterson was born in 1892 in
Hampton, Iowa. He received the degree bachelor of arts (biological
science and chemistry) from the University of Northern Iowa and
the master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees (chemistry)
from Stanford University.
Dr. Peterson had a life-long interest
in the study of native California flora; he was the author of Native
Trees of Southern California. The university established a fund
for the purchase and planting of a grove of native California trees,
in his honor. Prior to assuming the presidency of the university
(then California State College, Long Beach), he was founder and
director of the West Coast School of Nature Study.
Among his memberships in community
organizations were: the Long Beach Torch Club, United Way, Pacific
Hospital, Young Men's Christian Association, and the Long Beach
Rotary Club.
His scientific and honor society
memberships included Sigma Xi, Delta Sigma Rho, Phi Delta Kappa,
Phi Lambda Upsilon, Alpha Omega, and Phi Kappa Phi. |
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