Biography: Peter G. Peterson

Born on June 5, 1926, Peter G. Peterson is Chairman and Co-founder of the Blackstone Group, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), founding Chairman of the Institute for International Economics (IIE), and founding President of the Concord Coalition. He is also Co-Chair of the Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprises.

Peterson is a former chair/CEO of Lehman Brothers (1973-1977) and former chair/CEO of Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb (1977-1984). From 1963-1971, he was chairman/CEO of the Bell and Howell Corporation.

Peterson served as Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs (1971) under Richard M. Nixon. He was named as Secretary of Commerce by Nixon in 1972. He also assumed the chairmanship of Nixon's National Commission on Productivity and was appointed by Nixon as the U.S. Chairman of the U.S.-Soviet Commercial Commission.

He also currently serves on the boards of directors at Sirius Satellite Radio, and formerly served on the boards of the Sony Corporation, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), General Foods Corporation, RCA, The Continental Group, and Cities Service.

Peterson is Trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, the Japan Society, and the Museum of Modern Art; and is a Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Public Agenda Foundation, and the Nixon Center.

He is the recipient of Honorary Ph.D. degrees from Colgate University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Northwestern University, the University of Rochester (NY), and Southampton College of Long Island University. Mr. Peterson, who resides in New York City, is married to Joan Ganz Cooney, Founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Children's Television Workshop ("Sesame Street," "Electric Company," and "3-2-1 Contact"). He is the father of five children.