Peter V. Sampo

Peter V. Sampo is an educator and college president.

He is a founder of four colleges and was first president of two Catholic liberal arts colleges with curricula built on Great Books of Western culture, The College of Saint Mary Magdalen[1][2] and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts,[3] both in New Hampshire. He currently serves as president emeritus of The College of Saint Mary Magdalen.

Life and career

Peter V. Sampo made his undergraduate studies at Saint Vincent College and earned the Ph.D. in political science at Notre Dame.[4]

In 1974, Sampo, together with former high-school teacher John Meehan and businessman Francis Boucher, founded Magdalen College in Bedford, New Hampshire (now The College of Saint Mary Magdalen in Warner, New Hampshire). [2][5]

Sampo was president of Magdalen until 1977, when he left to start Cardinal Newman College in Missouri.[6] After Cardinal Newman College closed for financial reasons in 1985,[7] he began work on Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire, offering a four-year liberal arts curriculum inspired by educators Donald and Louise Cowan.[3] He served as president of Thomas More until 2006.

In 2009 he founded The Erasmus Institute of Liberal Arts, a liberal arts school in Canterbury, New Hampshire offering the Cowan curriculum formerly used at Thomas More College. In 2011, it was merged into the College of Saint Mary Magdalen as a distinct program.[8]

Honors

In 2007 the New England Board of Higher Education gave Sampo its Higher Education Excellence award.[9][10]

The CiRCE Institute for classical education designated Sampo the 2008 winner of its Paideia Prize named in honor of historian Russell Kirk.[4][11]

References

  1. ^ "College History". Magdalen College. http://www.magdalen.edu/aboutus/collegehistory2.asp. 
  2. ^ a b Mary Jo Weaver (1995). Being Right: conservative Catholics in America. Indiana University Press. p. 310. http://books.google.com/books?id=W1KFNeoVo-UC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA310#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  3. ^ a b Mary Jo Weaver (1995). Being Right: conservative Catholics in America. Indiana University Press. p. 315. http://books.google.com/books?id=W1KFNeoVo-UC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA315#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  4. ^ a b "Dr. Peter Sampo". CiRCE Institute. http://circeinstitute.com/2008conference/Sampo.shtml. 
  5. ^ John Moorehouse (November 12, 2003). "Magdalen College celebrates 30th anniversary". Catholic Exchange. http://catholicexchange.com/2003/12/11/81965/. 
  6. ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19771211&id=jr0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7027,5313413
  7. ^ "Cardinal Newman College". North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. http://www.ncahlc.org/component/option,com_directory/Action,ShowBasic/Itemid,192/instid,H017/lang,en/. 
  8. ^ "Erasmus Institute Joins the College of Saint Mary Magdalen (press release)". College of Saint Mary Magdalen. http://magdalen.edu/news-events/news-details.asp?niID=25. Retrieved October 8, 2011. 
  9. ^ "New Hampshire School, Ed Leaders Win New England Higher Education Excellence Awards (press release)". New England Board of Higher Education. January 27, 2007. http://www.nebhe.org/about-nebhe/news-releases/new-hampshire-school-ed-leaders-win-new-england-higher-education-excellence-awards/. 
  10. ^ Lisa Brown (February 1, 2007). "Concord community briefs". The Hippo (newspaper). http://www.hippopress.com/070201/news13.html. 
  11. ^ "Selected Activities and Events: 2008". Permanent Things (newsletter) (Russell Kirk Center). Fall 2008. http://www.kirkcenter.org/images/uploads/Kirk-Newsletter-12-2008.pdf.