UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Smeal College of Business has named Dale Peterson as the student marshal for spring 2015. He will lead the college’s procession of graduates during the Penn State Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on May 10 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Peterson will graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average after earning a bachelor’s degree in finance and minoring in both mathematics and statistics. As his studies suggest, Peterson is a numbers guy.
“I've always liked numbers and math. Math has always been my favorite subject, so when I came to Smeal I knew that I wanted to be in a relatively quantitative program,” Peterson said. “I thought that finance would be a good choice since it combines numbers and business applications.”
Peterson has accepted an analyst position with Perella Weinberg Partners in New York.
He was a Schreyer Honors Scholar and has received the Evan Pugh Scholar Award, the President Sparks Award and the President’s Freshman Award. He was vice president and lead manager of the Nittany Lion Fund Financials Sector.
The Nittany Lion Fund is a student-managed investment fund with more than $7 million in assets and is one of the few student-managed funds supported by actual investor money not endowment dollars.
“It was tough, but managing everything came down to time management, prioritizing tasks and efficiency,” Peterson said.
He will be escorted by faculty marshal J. Randall Woolridge, the Goldman Sachs and Co. and Frank P. Smeal Endowed University Fellow and president of the Nittany Lion Fund.
Peterson, who is from Pittsburgh, said his parents and sister will attend commencement to help him celebrate.
“My favorite memories of Smeal are from the Nittany Lion Fund. The Nittany Lion Fund was a phenomenal professional opportunity where I was able to meet a group of very talented and motivated people,” Peterson said. “The program provides students the chance to gain real world experience while in school, which is a huge advantage when searching for and working in internships and jobs.”