Charles H. Peterson ’68

Pete died Oct. 24, 2020, at home from dementia with Lewy bodies in Pine Knoll Shores, N.C. He was 74.

He was born Feb. 18, 1946, in Trenton, N.J. He attended the Lawrenceville School, where he played hockey, baseball, and soccer. At Princeton Pete majored in biology, was active in the German Club, Campus Fund, and soccer, and ate at Cottage. After Princeton he attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in biology.

From 1976 until his retirement in 2019, Pete was a distinguished professor at UNC-Chapel Hill in the Department of Marine Sciences and the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, publishing more than 250 scientific papers and mentoring hundreds of students. Pete served on numerous scientific panels, including for the state of North Carolina, the National Science Foundation, NOAA, and the EPA.

Pete is survived by his wife, Christine Voss; sons Per A. Peterson and Charles B. Peterson and family; stepdaughter Chelsea McDaniel and family; stepson Benjamin Maser; and brother John A. Peterson, Jr. and family. The class extends its profound sympathies to them all.