By Jeff McClellan
It seems everyone in the Kennedy Center lecture room on Monday, Nov. 10, knew that BYU’s dean of admissions and records, Erlend (Pete) D. Peterson, was about to receive an award from the King of Norway. Everyone, that is, except Pete Peterson.
When Peterson introduced Tom Vraalsen, Norway’s ambassador to the United States, as the speaker for the International Forum, Peterson genuinely thought that Vraalsen had come to deliver a forum address and that the some 150 people packed into the room and hallway had come to hear what the ambassador had to say.
Norwegian ambassador Tom Vraalsen (right), acting for the king of Norway, presents the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, Knight First Class, to BYU’s Pete Peterson. Peterson was honored for his efforts to strengthen ties between the United States (specifically BYU and Utah) and Norway.
While that was true in part, as Vraalsen began to speak, his subject quickly switched from Norway to Peterson. “I know that you are all very well informed about Norway,” he said, “and that is partly thanks to one single person.” Later recalling this moment in Vraalsen’s speech, Peterson said he started to feel uncomfortable as the ambassador recounted the dean’s efforts to bring Norwegian scholars and dignitaries to BYU.
“It is not only that you have promoted Norway’s interests, but through what you have been doing, you have also contributed in a very significant way to fostering the relations between Norway and the United States,” Vraalsen told Peterson.
Accompanied by a standing ovation led by BYU President Merrill J. Bateman, Vraalsen presented an emotional Peterson with the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, Knight First Class, a rare honor approved by the king. With the award–a small gilded cross dangling from a blue ribbon–pinned to the breast pocket of his suit coat, Peterson took the podium to express his gratitude and surprise at receiving the award. “I am truly honored, and my dedication will be even greater,” he said.
The Royal Norwegian Consulate in Salt Lake City requested that the presentation be a surprise, but keeping the announcement from the dean took a bit of juggling in the administration building and around campus before the event. The news was shared in whispers, through e-mail messages, and behind closed doors as the word spread to nearly everyone on campus except Peterson. The effort was effective, and Peterson was caught completely by surprise.
“This is a recognition I never expected,” said Peterson after the forum. “I know people who have received this award, and I hold them in very high esteem. I never considered that I would receive it.”
A direct descendant of the first Norwegian resident to join the LDS Church, Peterson was taught to bless the food in Norwegian and learned Norwegian folk songs as a child. He first visited Norway in 1954. After completing an LDS mission to the eastern United States, he returned to Norway in 1963 to serve a second mission while his father was the mission president. Peterson’s association with Norway continued after his mission, and in 1988 he was called to return as mission president himself.
Peterson is an associate of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies and the Utah representative for Nordmanns-Forbundet, an organization established by the king of Norway when the country gained its independence in 1905. Since his collaboration with the Kennedy Center in 1987, Peterson has brought more than 20 Norwegians–many of them more than once–to BYU as speakers. The list includes ambassadors, consul generals, the chief justice of the Norwegian supreme court, members of parliament, musicians, university presidents and professors, and others. Vraalsen joked that the list of prominent Norwegians who haven’t come to BYU is shorter than the list of those who have come. Peterson has also facilitated student exchanges between BYU and Norway.
Vraalsen said he only met Peterson a year ago, but he had heard of him before. “He has a reputation–a very good reputation–based on the work that he has done.” The ambassador said Peterson’s bringing of prominent Norwegians to BYU and the United States provides a platform to talk about Norway and strengthens ties between the two countries. “He is an important ambassador for us.”
Through extensive and varied activities, Peterson has worked to foster a relationship between Norway and Utah. “I have simply felt honored to be the one coordinating the program,” he said. “I’ve done it out of a love for Norway.”
The administrator, who has also brought speakers from other Nordic countries to BYU, was concerned that attendance at the forum would be low, so he worked hard to advertise the event. “Monday is not a good day to draw a crowd,” he said. When he saw how many showed up, he was pleasantly surprised but had no idea that many of the people–including three TV stations and two newspapers–were there for him.
After the presentation and the ambassador’s speech, which addressed the state of Norwegian affairs, well-wishers lingered for 30 minutes to talk to the ambassador and congratulate Peterson, now often affectionately referred to as “Sir Pete.”
