Dean’s Council member since July 2016
Pete was a pioneer in the development of the independent power industry with an emphasis on environmentally clean power. He left General Electric’s Nuclear Energy Division after 19 years, served as Vice President of an engineering firm, and in 1984 founded Calpine Corporation, an independent power company. As Calpine’s president, CEO, and board chairman, he developed, built, owned, and operated gas-fired and geothermal power plants. The company grew to become one of the largest independent power companies in the United States with a portfolio of 12,000 megawatts of power plants in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and the U.K.
Pete has served on the boards of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, Catalytica, Calpine Corporation, California Chamber of Commerce, Symphony Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz Symphony, and Sierra Club Foundation.
He received a BS in geologic engineering from Princeton University in 1952 and a MS in civil engineering from Columbia University in 1954, and he served in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps
