Charles R. Peterson received his BS, MS and MFA from UW-Madison. Chuck was an Art teacher at Mukwonago Union HS (1958) and at West Division HS in Milwaukee (1961) where he later served as an art supervisor. He joined the faculty at St. Norbert College (SNC) in 1969 (Art and Art Education). In 1984 Chuck founded the Young Artist Workshops (YAW) at SNC, a visual and performing arts program for children and young adults with developmental disabilities and served as director for sixteen years. His research in applications of assistive technology (AT) to increase accessibility of the arts for individuals with disabilities led to a new AT Teacher Certification Program at the college and a Master Degree Program in Adaptive Education, the nation’s first, which he directed. He was a frequent presenter at state, national, and international professional conferences on education in the arts and applications of AT. In 1993, Governor Tommy Thompson presented Chuck the Governor’s Award for the Arts in recognition of his work with the YAW and leadership in Wisconsin developing community arts programs for individuals with disabilities. Received career awards from WAEA and NAEA. He was the first recipient of the SNC Community Service Award in 1997, was presented the President’s Medal in 2001 and awarded Emeritus Professor of Art upon his retirement in 2005. Source: http://www.wiarted.org/fellows-2017--charles-peterson.html

Biographical note written by Joe Dyal, 2019.