Dr. Paul Peterson (District 5) was first elected to serve on the Board of Education in 2000. He represents schools in the St. James and Socastee attendance areas. He is a professor in the Department of Politics at Coastal Carolina University.
Paul wanted to serve on the School Board to help make public schools stronger. As a university professor, he sees the importance of building rigorous high school programs that prepare students to be successful in post-secondary schools.
Paul says that his favorite memory from school was serving as the sports editor for his high school newspaper, which was published weekly. He also noted a favorite government course taught by Charles Brame among his fondest memories.
As an elementary school student, Paul’s favorite children’s book was Custer’s Last Stand by Quentin Reynolds. As a father, his favorite is Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.
“This is a beautiful book for young children. We read it somewhere around 100 times when our daughter was between 3 and 6 years old,” he said.
A native of San Bernardino, California, Paul earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University, a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, and a Doctorate in Government from Claremont Graduate School. He and his wife, Pam, have one daughter.
Contact Paul at paulpeterson@horrycountyschools.net