Peter Likins

Who is Peter Likins?

Peter William Likins was president of the University of Arizona from 1997 until his retirement in summer 2006.

Previous posts in order of most recent were:

President of Lehigh University

Provost for professional schools at Columbia University,

Dean of Columbia's engineering school.

At each of these universities, Likins was a professor of engineering. During his administration at Lehigh, he and the Reverend John E. Brooks, S.J. of the College of the Holy Cross were the two university presidents contacted by the Ivy League in the first stage of the formation of the Patriot League during the early-1980s. This effectively removed Lehigh from contention for a Division I-AA playoff berth.

He attended Stanford University where he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

During the last semester of his presidency, a wire from his pacemaker poked a hole in his heart, causing him to nearly faint during an emergency drill being conducted on campus at the time. He underwent open heart surgery soon thereafter. Under different conditions emergency medical personal might not have been able to respond in time to save him.