Russell W. Peterson
| Russell W. Peterson | |
|---|---|
| 66th Governor of Delaware | |
|
In office January 21, 1969 – January 16, 1973 |
|
| Lieutenant | Eugene Bookhammer |
| Preceded by | Charles L. Terry, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Sherman W. Tribbitt |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 3, 1916 Portage, Wisconsin |
| Died | February 21, 2011 (aged 94) Centreville, Delaware |
| Political party |
Republican (to 1996) Democratic (1996–2011) |
| Spouse(s) | Lillian Turner (1937–1994) June Jenkins (1995–2011) |
| Residence | Wilmington, Delaware |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Profession | scientist |
| Religion | Unitarian |
Russell Wilbur "Russ" Peterson (October 3, 1916 – February 21, 2011) was an American scientist and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He served as Governor of Delaware as a member of the Republican Party. An influential environmentalist, he served as chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and president of the National Audubon Society.
Peterson was born in Portage, Wisconsin, the son of Anton and Emma Peterson. The eighth of nine children, his father Anton was an immigrant from Sweden who worked as a bartender and barber. Peterson attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he received a B.S. in 1938, working as a dishwasher in the chemistry lab to pay the bills and a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1942. In 1937 he married Lillian Turner, with whom he had four children: R. Glen, Peter J., Kristin P. Havill and Elin. Lillian died in 1994. He married his second wife, June Jenkins, who had been recently widowed, in 1995. He was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
At Wisconsin, Peterson was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
After graduate school, Peterson was recruited by the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company to work as a research chemist at its Experimental Station in Wilmington. For over 26 years he held prominent jobs in research, manufacturing and sales, and finally in corporate management, becoming director of research and development in 1963.
All the while, Peterson had become a well known civic activist from suburban New Castle County. He had been involved in the “New Day for Delaware” attempt at governmental reform in the Boggs administration, and had organized an effort at prison reform known as the “Three-S Citizen’s Campaign,” salvage people, save dollars, and shrink the crime rate. His leadership skills inspired Henry B. du Pont to appoint him to the executive committee of the Greater Wilmington Development Council. He was put in charge of the Neighborhood Improvement Program, tasked with solving poverty in the black community. By 1968 Delaware had experienced rioting following the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., and National Guard troops were still on the streets of Wilmington on the orders of the conservative Democratic Governor, Charles L. Terry, Jr.. Peterson seemed to have a fresh, progressive approach for addressing these and other issues and was drafted by Republican state leaders to run for Governor.
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