Cheryl Anne Peterson, executive director of the Office of the President at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, died at her home on July 1. She was 54 years old and had suffered from cancer.
A native of Burlington, Ontario, Canada, Peterson earned a bachelor’s degree in education at York University in Toronto and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
After working a public school teacher, Peterson took a job in the office of the dean at the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. She later became executive assistant to provost Tim Sands at Purdue. After Sands was named president of Virginia Tech, she moved to Blacksburg in January 2015 at President Sands’ request to become executive director of his office staff.
President Sands stated that “I have known Cheryl for the past decade. She was the only person I recruited to come with me from Purdue. We will miss her bright and caring personality, her sharp wit, and her enthusiasm for solving the trickiest of problems.”