Reflections
on Serving under Seven University of Idaho Presidents:
Representing
the University in all its Diversity and Universality.
By Martin L. Peterson
Special Assistant to the President
University of
Idaho
Abstract:
Marty
Peterson was appointed Special Assistant to the President of the University of
Idaho in 1992. Since then he has
served in that capacity under seven presidents. As the university’s primary
coordinator for governmental relations, he has worked to match the unique needs
of the university’s diverse internal interests with the universal realities of
governors, legislators, congressmen and senators.
These nineteen years have seen changes in university presidents, governors,
legislators and members of Idaho’s congressional delegation.
Changing times bring with them changes in priorities, changes in
management styles, and changes in the way business is done at all levels. In his
presentation, Marty Peterson will talk about the impact of changes at the local,
academic and individual levels versus changes at the universal level. And he
will also make some prognostications about what the future holds for the
university in these changing times.
Martin L. Peterson
Marty Peterson is now in his fifty-first year of public service in Idaho.
That service began with enlisting in the Idaho National Guard as a
17-year-old junior in high school.
He is a 1968 graduate of the University of Idaho.
He was on the staffs of Senator Frank Church and Governors Cecil Andrus
and John Evans. He is also a former
state budget director. In 1990 he directed the planning and administration of
Idaho’s state centennial celebration. He also worked for the mayors and city
councils of 200 Idaho cities as executive director of the
Association of Idaho Cities. Since
1992 he has been a special assistant to seven presidents of the University of
Idaho.