Peter Mortensen: Financing dreams

As a student at Wooster, Peter Mortensen ’56 was never afraid to change direction.

Originally a mathematics major, he switched to economics at the end of his junior year, took nothing but economics courses as a senior, wrote his I.S. on John Maynard Keynes (with Kingman Eberhart as his adviser), and graduated with honors.

Though he had been in marching bands since fifth grade, he decided he was “bored with playing clarinet in the last row” and wound up leading the Scot Marching Band as drum major for three years.

But after graduating from Wooster and attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Mortensen set a course that held steady for more than 40 years. He joined First National Bank of Pennsylvania and rose steadily through the ranks, becoming president in 1973 and retiring in 2000 as CEO of FNB Corporation, as it is now known. He continues to serve as chairman of the board.

What he liked best about banking, Mortensen says, was being involved in a community’s growth, whether by financing small businesses or families’ dreams of home ownership.

Mortensen has personal experience with the financing of dreams. His Wooster education was made possible by a full-tuition scholarship. Years later, when three of his daughters were simultaneously attending the College, one of them also received a full scholarship.

“I’ve always believed that I owed thanks for those scholarships,” he says. “Now it’s my turn to give something back to the College.”

Mortensen’s decision to endow a lecture fund reflects his gratitude, he says. “Wooster has contributed to the success and happiness of three generations of the Mortensen family.” He established the fund with an initial cash gift and plans to direct two additional, deferred commitments—an estate note and an annuity— into its endowment as well.

Income from the fund will support public lectures or performances related to the First- Year Seminar or similar purposes related to the academic program. Mortensen thought about focusing the fund in a particular discipline, like economics, but ultimately decided to give the College broader discretion.

“I like the idea that the College will determine the best educational uses for the fund and that it will be part of the basic academic effort, not restricted to a special topic or point of view,” he says. After all, “the College is what I put my faith in.”

Past Profiles

» Will Johnson '66: “Paying it Forward”

» Sarah Fuller '95: My education always led me back to Kauke

» Margaret Stockdale McCoy '39: Shaping the future today

» Jill Gregory ’95: Drawing on her Education

» Value-Added Career (Professor John Sell)

» Preserving History (Jill Henley Shafer ’76 & Dr. Ken Shafer ’75)

» Bill Vodra: Supporting a school that makes a difference