The award honors leaders in Georgia who have excelled in business while also making significant contributions to their communities.

“I am deeply honored and by this award and am especially grateful that you considered me when I look at the list of previous recipients,” Peterson said.

Peterson will speak with students and faculty at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 12 in Peabody Auditorium. The School of Business will honor Peterson during the Executive of the Year Luncheon at noon March 12 in the University Banquet Room.

Peterson has been a director and shareholder since 1961 of VNS that sells and distributes building materials in Georgia and the Southeast. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. Choo Choo Build-It Marts, which has had a store in Milledegeville for more than 30 years, is a division of VNS Corporation.

“Hugh Peterson is a great example of a successful business leader and a wonderful, long-time friend of the university,” said GCSU President Dorothy Leland. “We are pleased to recognize his achievements and the example he sets for our students as they strive for their own successes.”

Peterson also serves as a director and chairman of the executive committee of NW Services Corporation, a bank holding company in Ringgold. He is chairman of the Board of NW Services Corporation and chairman of the executive committee of the Northwest Georgia Bank, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of NW Services Corporation He serves as director of both companies.

Peterson is a trustee of Georgia College & State University Foundation and Reinhardt College. He has served as a member of Metro Atlanta Salvation army Advisory Board for more than 25 years. He is a member of Atlanta Kiwanis Club.

Peterson is a lawyer, retired as a partner from King & Spalding in Atlanta in 1992 after 30 years with the firm. Peterson also served as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army.

He is a native of Ailey, Ga., and is married to the former Mary Jane Fincher of Chatsworth, Ga. His mother, the late Patience Elizabeth Russell Peterson, was a graduate of the Class of 1922 of Georgia College & State University, then known as Georgia Normal & Industrial College.

“Hugh Peterson is an excellent example of a leader who meets the dual goals of success and community service,” said Faye Gilbert, Dean of J. Whitney Bunting School of Business. “We are proud to name him the 2008 Executive of the Year.”

For more information contact Lurline West, GCSU Director of Business Student & Community Services, at (478) 445-1310 or e-mail at lurlinewest@gcsu.edu.