Peter was educated at Bolton Preparatory School, a prestigious private school for boys in England, and, after graduating from the University of London and completing his service in the British Army, Peter started his professional life in England as a Chartered Accountant.

On immigrating to the USA Peter ultimately became the Chief Financial Officer for the renowned Heritage Foundation, the hugely influential and famous Washington “think tank”. During his tenure at HF he was honored to have met and worked with five United States President’s. Peter finally became a US Citizen just 3 years ago and was in the process of arranging to attend his Bolton Prep reunion next January.

An avid amateur ballroom competitor in England, he carried that passion with him when he immigrated to the USA continuing to successfully compete in his new world. He put it to excellent use while living in the Washington DC area, becoming involved with the US Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association (USABDA.) This involvement blossomed, leading him into national office twice as the President of the Association. During his first presidency of USABDA Peter was the architect and driver of the restructuring of the amateur association into a new organization, USA Dance. He was also one of the leaders behind the movement to bring ballroom dance Olympic recognition, and, with his IDSF team, met many times in Switzerland with the International Olympic Committee’s President, Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torello, the Marquess of Samaranch. These meetings lead to the subsequent adoption of ballroom dance as a “Recognized” sport for potential inclusion in the Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee. Peter’s dance fever continued to keep him busy and he also served as the President of the International Dance Sport Association (IDSF, now the World Dance Sport Association) where he was largely responsible for the sponsorship of IMG, an international sport and talent management company, and the first filming of the International Dance Sport Championship events for television and broadcast worldwide.

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Peter was a singular man, an intriguing and intelligent man who very much loved his wife. He loved to travel and indeed did so all over the world; certainly he enjoyed a full, varied, and amazing life. He spoke four languages fluently- English, French, German, and Arabic - and a few more, including Latin, as he put it, “not quite so much.” He loved to cook and produced fabulous meals; he played golf, bridge, and chess, and liked nothing better than a great conversation with close friends while sharing a meal and a good bottle of wine followed by a glass of fine Port. He will be very much missed by those of his friends who had the opportunity to share such occasions with him.

"Ave atque Vale Peter!" Hail and Farewell

Submitted by Judi Hatton, First Vice President of the NDCA

Ed. Note

Peter was twice elected President of USA Dance, but also stepped in temporarily as President for a third time in 2015 upon the resignation of then President, Yang Chen.