Pitt’s Olympic sports complex gets named

The Olympic sports facility currently under construction across from Trees Hall will be known as… The Olympic sports facility currently under construction across from Trees Hall will be known as the Petersen Sports Complex, athletic director Steve Pedersen announced yesterday.

It’s named after John Petersen, a 1951 Pitt graduate, and his wife Gertrude, who together gave a large donation to Pitt so the new baseball, softball and men’s and women’s soccer complex could begin to be built earlier this year.

In 2002, the Petersens’ charity made the construction of the Petersen Events Center possible. They reached out again in 2006 when they started an endowment supporting research in nanoscale science and technology at Pitt’s Institute of NanoScience and Engineering, also in their name as the John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering.

“The extraordinary support that Pitt has received from John and Gertrude Petersen has played a critical role in elevating our University on many important fronts,” Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said in a news release.

The new sports complex, being built on 12 acres on Pitt’s upper campus, will provide Pitt’s student athletes with resources they’ve never had before. The baseball and softball stadiums both include lighting, hitting and pitching practice areas, with a press box and synthetic and artificial grass. The soccer stadium will have similar amenities.

“For years we have had a dream to construct a sports complex that would give our baseball, softball and men’s and women’s soccer teams the kind of facilities that will allow them to compete for Big East championships on a regular basis,” Pederson said. “The gift from the Petersens has helped make this dream a reality.”

Petersen graduated from Pitt with a degree in business administration and was a member of the swim and dive team. He is the retired president of the Erie Insurance Group, where his expertise helped raise the company’s assets from $20 million in 1962 to more than $4.6 billion when he retired in 1995.

“The University of Pittsburgh is a world-class institution, led by a great chancellor in Mark Nordenberg and his outstanding leadership team, that has brought Pitt to the pinnacle of excellence in so many different areas,” Petersen said. “It is a great pleasure for Gertrude and me to again contribute to the University’s success and future.”