Chris Peterson has spent 40 plus years as a college coach and administrator.  In 2020 he came out of retirement to become the Vice Chancellor for Athletics at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff,  the only HBCU in the state of Arkansas.  He is currently working as a consultant for UAPB and mentoring their athletic administrators.

Peterson spent 14 years as the Director of Athletics at University of Arkansas, Little Rock.  During his tenure there he secured a $22.4 million dollar gift for the $25 million dollar Jack Stephens Center, a state of the art on-campus event center.  This was the largest single gift in the history of the University.  As well as raising money, he was closely involved  with the design and construction of the project. During this time he also hosted the first and second round of the Women’s Basketball Tournament and was the Tournament Director of the Men’s NCAA Regional Tournament in Little Rock.  Peterson was recognized numerous times by the University’s Faculty Senate for Commitment to Academic Excellence.

Peterson also had administrative stints at University of the Pacific, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska, and Creighton University. At Kansas State, he was a part of a three person search committee that hired head football coach, Bill Snyder, beginning the biggest transformation in the history of college football.  He created the first Athletic Marketing Departments at Kansas State, Nebraska, and Creighton University, utilizing student interns within the department at each institution.  He also created a Student Athlete Ambassador Program at each university, utilizing high profile student athletes to personally thank major donors in the summer.  While at Creighton University, Peterson assisted in soliciting and targeting athletic gifts for the University’s $100 million dollar Capital Campaign.

He  was honored as the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Central Region Athletic Director of the Year in 2010. Peterson was a Sun Belt Conference representative on the Division I NCAA Recruiting and Personnel Issues Cabinet, and was the conference representative on the NCAA Division I Administration Cabinet for four years.

Peterson was a highly recruited high school All American quarterback, going on to play at Kansas State and Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Peterson signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, and spent 7 years as a college football coach prior to going into athletic administration.