Professor Peterson has been very active throughout his career with the Santa Clara University School of Law community. He served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the law school for five years and is currently the Director of Graduate Legal Programs. In addition, he has spent many summers directing Santa Clara Law’s programs in Oxford, Tokyo, and Costa Rica. Peterson also serves as a mediator for the United States District Court.

Prior to joining Santa Clara Law in 1970, Professor Peterson was a teaching fellow at the University of Illinois, and taught at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. He clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Robert F. Peckham in 1968 and earned a Diploma in Law from Oxford University in 1977.