Awards

O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs Distinguished Alumni Awards - 1994

About Nelson Peters

Nelson Peters is the 1st District Allen County Commissioner, having been reelected to a third term in 2012. Under his leadership, Peters oversaw the merger of the Allen County and Fort Wayne Homeland Security functions, passed of a new ethics policy for Allen County employees and officials, reduced the number of county-owned vehicles, drafted a land use and development plan for the community, established an early retirement benefit program, and expanded the public's access to county government through the creation of the Commissioners' Night Out town hall meetings. He also made effort to launch an employee health clinic and the first County strategic plan in the state. For his work, Peters has been named "Outstanding First Term Commissioner" by the Indiana Association of County Commissioners, and received County Achievement Awards from the Association of Indiana Counties. As Commissioner, he has served as a member of the Allen County Plan Commission, the Allen County Community Corrections Board, the Maumee River Basin Commission, the Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the Fort Wayne/Allen County Economic Development Alliance Board, the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center and as President of the Allen County Emergency Management Advisory Board.

Peters holds a B.S.P.A. and a M.P.A., both from Indiana University. Prior to being elected as an Allen County Commissioner, he was the director of human resources for Taylor Made Systems, Inc. from 1999 to 2004. Peters also served as the vice president of human resources for Connor Corporation in Fort Wayne from 1995 to 1999. He was the director of human resources for the City of Fort Wayne and the Allen County Human Resources Director in the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Currently, he is a partner in Calico Precision Molding, based in Fort Wayne.

Along with his career in human resources, Peters has over twenty years of experiences in Allen County government. He first became involved by serving as an at-large member of the county council in 1991, remaining in the position until 2000. As a member of the council, Peters chaired the Criminal Justice Task Force, which developed a long-term strategic approach to make Allen County's criminal justice system more efficient and cost effective. Peters also advocated for using television and the Internet to improve the county government's openness and accessibility as well as helping develop the current tax abatement program.

Peters' community involvement has included memberships on the Salvation Army Board of Directors, board of the Chandler's Landing Association, the Faith Baptist Church Board of Managers, the Northeast Indiana Easter Seals Board of Directors, United Hispanic-Americans and the board of Park Center, Inc. Peters is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and an associate faculty member at Concordia University and the IPFW School of Public and Environmental Affairs.