This year, the Hoover Institution welcomed longtime friend and supporter Joel C. Peterson to the role of chairman of the Board of Overseers.
The Board of Overseers helps guide the institution’s leadership and programs and plays an important role in ensuring the institution’s overall financial health. Among other duties, the chairman serves as an adviser to the institution’s director, appoints chairs to board committees, leads the activities of the board at large, and chairs the board’s Executive Committee.
Peterson, who has sat on the Board of Overseers for ten years, brings a rich background as an entrepreneur, businessman, and scholar to his new role as chairman. After graduating from Brigham Young University as valedictorian and student body president and earning an MBA from Harvard, Peterson went on to serve as CEO of Trammell Crow, then the world’s largest private commercial real estate development firm. He is the founding partner and chairman of Peterson Partners, a Salt Lake City–based investment management firm with interests in more than 150 companies. Peterson is also the chairman of the board of JetBlue Airways.
Since 1992 Peterson has also served as a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. In 2005 his students selected him to receive the school’s Distinguished Teacher Award. He is also a director at Stanford’s Center for Leadership Development and Research and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Group.
Asked to share his thoughts on the new role, Peterson remarked “I’m honored and grateful to this hundred year old, preeminent think tank, to all of its scholars, overseers, and Stanford University.”
“I’ve spent my life building brands and teaching students how to lead and manage businesses that delight customers, show respect for employees, and contribute meaningfully to society,” he said. “As the core mission of Hoover is to educate—to provide trusted information—I hope to help it extend its reach.”
