ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

College of Sciences & Technology
Distinguished Alumnus 2012
Peter Hallson
Bachelor Arts in Biology (’58)

Peter Hallson graduated with a major in biology from Western in 1958. He has distinguished himself as a leader and innovator in his profession, as an advocate and supporter of Western and in his Edmonds/Seattle community. For these reasons we are proud to present him as the College of Sciences and Technoglogy Alumnus of the Year Award.

After graduating from Western in 1958, where he excelled in the general science progam with a focus on biology, Peter distinguished himself working with several companies, most notably with the large international chemical products firm, Nalco. [“Nalco is the world’s largest sustainability services company focused on industrial water, energy, and air applications. They assist their customers un reducing energy, water, and other natural resources consumption, minimzing environmental releases while boosting the bottom line.”] Several faculty, such as Leona Sundquist, Ruth Platt, and Marie Pabst played a strong role in Peter’s educational development.

At Nalco, Peter worked his way up in the company administration President of Nalco’s Diversey Water Technologies Division in 1996, having joined the company in 1961 as a district representative. He was promoted to area manager in 1967 and to district manager in 1969. He was named regional manager of the pulp and paper chemicals group in 1971. Peter transferred back to the water treatment chemicals division as regional manager in 1974. In 1977, he transferred to WATERGY as regional sales manager and in 1982 he became sales manager for the whole division. Peter then transferred to Nalco’s international division in 1988 when he became the vice president of operations for Nalco Europe and in 1992 he was named division’s vice president, sales training. Along that journey, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Program for senior Executives, gaining a foundation for the development of his interests in corporate efficiency and ethics. He stood out as a leader among the leaders in the large, international Nalco corporation, before retiring from that position. He is especially proud of his work in customer statisfaction and quality control.

In 2004 Peter seriously reconnected with Western and since then has been among our most active and involved alums. He and his wife Judith have been regular supporters of the Dean’s Fund for Excellence, providing funds that have supported student travel to professional meetings and student/faculty research efforts. Peter is a founding member of the College of Sciences and Technology External Advancement Board. Peter chairs the Advocacy
and Community Relations subcommittee and in that role has emerged as a Board leader working tirelessly with State legislators as an advocate for Western’s interests and with other Board members to develop meaningful avenues of College involvement with the community.