More than 80 undergraduate and graduate students in engineering majors, the Rader School of Business and School of Nursing will receive their bachelor’s or master’s degrees at Milwaukee School of Engineering’s (MSOE) Winter Commencement, Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Kern Center.

Professor Emeritus Owe Petersen, Ph.D. will receive an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree.

Kristi Noll is the class respondent, the honor that goes to the graduate with the highest GPA. Noll is graduating with high honors and will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

Kelsey Uuskallio will receive the Alumni Association Award. Recipients of this prestigious award are first nominated by faculty members in their respective academic departments and then the entire graduating class selects from among its peers the student who is most deserving. She is graduating with high honors and will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical Communication.

About Dr. Owe Petersen:

Dr. Owe Petersen is a noted expert in engineering and in education. Following a long career in industry, he brought his real-world experiences into the classroom. Petersen retired from MSOE in 2015 after 22 years of service and is professor emeritus in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. He also served as assistant vice president of institutional research and assessment, chair of the EECS Department for eight years. Before that he was the electrical engineering program director for six years, as well as director of the international EE program with the Lübeck University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

His industrial experiences stem from a 30-year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Reading, Penn., where he was a member of technical staff in research and development. His work spanned technical topics such as the design of microwave and millimeter silicon devices, integrated circuit design and technology, molecular beam epitaxy, optical data links and transatlantic repeaters, reliability and metallurgy.

Peterson received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from UW-Madison in 1963 and a master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1965 and 1971, respectively. He was an AT&T visiting professor at North Carolina A&T State University from 1990-92. In 1993 he accepted a faculty position at MSOE as associate professor in the EECS Department. In 2005 he was awarded the Ehrennaddle (honorary award) by the Lübeck University of Applied Sciences for meritorious service to the university and the field of engineering education. Petersen is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and longtime ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission evaluator in electrical engineering. He served on many church committees at the congregation and regional level in the Lutheran Church and twice was a delegate to their national convention.