Moorhead couple donates $250,000 to MSUM Alumni Foundation
Minnesota State University Moorhead alumni Clair E. Peterson and Ardy L. (Hansen) Peterson have a combined teaching career of more than 60 years and together have touched thousands of students in Fargo and Moorhead—she as an elementary teacher at Lincoln and Carl Ben Eielson schools and he as an educator at Moorhead High School.
Again they are impacting students—MSU Moorhead students—in the form of a $250,000 endowed gift to the MSUM Alumni Foundation. This legacy gift will impact students through scholarships, building projects, college programs and other unmet needs.
“The generosity shown by Clair and Ardy is an example of the great dedication our alumni have for MSUM,” said MSUM President Edna Szymanski. “We are so privileged and thankful to them for establishing this legacy gift for our current and future students.”
Originally from the Hawley and Hitterdal, Minn., area, the Petersons first came to Moorhead State Teachers College after Clair served four years in the U.S. Navy. They lived on campus in married student housing with their young children while Clair earned a degree in business education and history (1958). He also received a master’s degree in business law and economics (1967). After their children were all in school, Ardy went from full-time homemaker to non-traditional student, earning a degree in elementary education in 1965.
Prior to retirement, Clair chaired Moorhead High School’s business education department, while also serving on educational organizations at local, regional, state and national levels. He was president of the MSU Alumni Association in 1971. Since their retirement in 1993, the Petersons have been active in developing real estate in Minnesota and Arizona. They spend summers in Moorhead and winters in Peoria, Ariz.
Their lifelong commitment as educators prompted the generous gift to the university. “Education paves the road to a better future,” said Clair and Ardy. “Together, we can pave a lot of roads.”
For more information on the MSUM Alumni Foundation, go to http://alumni.mnstate.edu/ or contact Laura Huth, vice president, 218.477.2142 or laura.huth@mnstate.edu.