Lasting Memories

Michael Downes Peterson
Sept. 2, 1964-July 22, 2017
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Submitted by Karen Peterson-Iyer

Michael Downes Peterson died in Philadelphia on July 22, 2017. The cause was brain cancer.

Mike was born in San Rafael, California, to Donald Warren Peterson and Nancy Joan Simons Peterson. He spent a happy childhood in Atherton and in 1982 graduated as co-valedictorian from Menlo-Atherton High School, before attending Princeton University.

While at Princeton, he won the Halbert White Prize for outstanding performance in Economics and played on both the junior varsity and varsity tennis teams. Following graduation, Mike won a Keasbey Scholarship for study at Trinity College, Cambridge in England, where he earned an MA in Mathematics.

Mike then went on to gain a Ph.D. in Management Science at MIT’s Sloan School and worked for a few years as an Assistant Professor at Indiana University. He subsequently joined McKinsey and Company as a consultant before moving on to a successful and rewarding 20-year career in New York at Pzena Investment Management.

Mike was known by his family and friends alike for his kind heart, warm manner, quirky sense of humor, quick wit, and deep commitment to his loved ones and to his various passions. He relished music of all kinds, reading, tennis, cycling, and skiing.

He engaged extensively in philanthropy, focusing on organizations dedicated to poverty relief and development.

But most importantly, he was a joyful and energetic father to his sons, Colin (23), Matthew (20) and Timothy (17), and a beloved husband to his wife, Sarah, who will miss his extraordinary energy and optimism.

In addition to his immediate family, he is survived by his parents Donald and Nancy Peterson of Portola Valley, his sister Karen Peterson-Iyer and her husband Mohan S. Iyer of Menlo Park, and a large and loving cadre of cherished nieces and nephews, including Alex and Chris Iyer, both of Menlo Park.

In addition to the Philadelphia memorial service, a West Coast memorial service will be held Saturday, October 7, at 1:00 p.m. at Holbrook-Palmer Park in Atherton. Donations in Mike’s honor may be made at abc2.org to support brain cancer research, or to any nonprofit supporting development work in poverty-stricken communities.