John C. Peak ’52

John came to Princeton after finishing at South High School in Denver. He majored in chemical engineering, joined Dial Lodge, worked at WPRU, played in the band and the orchestra, and joined the Rocky Mountain Empire Club. He roomed with George Kearns, Norm Hochgraf, and Roy Sippel.

John worked at Sandia Corp., in Albuquerque, N.M., before going to Officer Candidate School and serving in the Navy for three years. He then went to MIT and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering. He took a job at General Atomic Co. in San Diego and went on to work for several years at Gulf United Nuclear Fuels. After studying in the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development in 1975, he returned to General Atomic for a series of positions of authority until he left to form his own firm, then went to the University of California, San Diego as director of courses in engineering and science in the extension program.

John’s activities aside from his career included playing drums in various bands and work with La Jolla Presbyterian Church, the Golden Triangle Rotary Club, the La Jolla Professional Men’s Society, Tau Beta Pi, and the 12:30 Club.

He died April 26, 2017. John is survived by his wife, Ernestine; and their children, Brian and Alan. The class sends condolences and respect to them all for John’s military service to our country.