Kenneth D. Peterson

Kenneth D. Peterson is Vice President and Provost and Professor of Economics. As Furman's chief academic officer, Peterson is responsible for the faculty and related administrative departments that support all undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs.

Peterson joined the Furman economics faculty in 1990 and chaired the department for twelve years. His teaching interests include microeconomic theory, urban economics, population economics, environmental economics, and research methods in economics. He is particularly fond of introducing students to economic ideas in the introduction to economics course.

An outstanding teacher and mentor, Peterson was the recipient of the Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching. His recent research interests have been in the areas of hedonic house pricing, parking policies and environmental impacts, and social capital. Professor Peterson has also supervised numerous undergraduate research projects through the Economics Department’s summer research program.

Peterson received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his B.S. in economics from Iowa State University. His research examines the extent to which property values are affected by environmental and neighborhood traits, the causes and consequences of varying social capital levels within neighborhoods, the economics of higher education, and the economics of college athletics. He is also a graduate of Leadership Greenville Class XXI.