Gary Petersen (BA ‘65) is a proud graduate of Washington State University, where he was editor of The Daily Evergreen.
Gary has a long history with Battelle and the Hanford site beginning directly after college. His nuclear-related management and communications experience started in 1974, working for Westinghouse on the construction, start-up and operation of the Fast Flux Test Reactor; then with Washington Public Power Supply System (now Energy Northwest) during the construction, start-up and operation of the Columbia Generating Station. In 1989 he moved back to Battelle where he was director of communications and administration at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for several years.
Highlighting his career, Gary worked on the International Nuclear Safety Program through the U.S. Department of Energy and State Department. His assignment locations included Chernobyl, Ukraine, after the 1986 accident, and other Russian nuclear reactor sites of similar design.
The Tri-Cities Economic Development Council took advantage of Gary’s retirement from Battelle in 2003 to hire him as vice president for Federal Programs, which includes working with Congress to firm up federal funding for PNNL and Hanford, and for the future development of Hanford land that will be transferred to the Tri-Cities community after clean up.
Gary and his wife, Margaret, have two married daughters (both WSU graduates) and six grandchildren (future Cougs?).