[2][3][4] Peterson served as the interim president of Tennessee State University from 1985 to 1986.
[2][4] Peterson briefly worked for the Illinois Oversight Board of Higher Education.
[3] He was assistant to the executive director of the Kentucky Council on Higher Education from 1986 to 1995.
[2][4] He served as the secretary of the Kentucky Education, Arts and Humanities Cabinet from 1995 to 1998.
[2][4] Peterson died of lung cancer on November 28, 1998, in Lexington, at 64.