While a Kansas University student, Heath Peterson took a job at KU Alumni Association to supplement his income.

On Tuesday, a decade later, Peterson was hired as the new president and CEO of the 132-year-old association by its board of directors with a unanimous vote.

Heath Peterson

Peterson, 34, will oversee an annual budget of $5.6 million and 42 full-time employees. The association has 42,000 members worldwide, according to a university news release.

Peterson could not be reached for comment Tuesday because he was in Chicago at the Champions Classic basketball tournament, an association staff member said.

The board had appointed Peterson the interim president after Kevin Corbett, the former president, left at the end of July to take a job with Affiliated Builders Group in Oklahoma. At the time of Corbett’s resignation, Peterson was vice president of alumni programs.

Peterson has both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from KU.

As a student, he worked in hospitality services for the association and was promoted to be the director of the Adams Alumni Center, the association’s headquarters, according to the release.

Since graduating with his bachelor’s degree in 2005, Peterson worked as director of Kansas chapters to develop alumni groups and relationships statewide and as assistant vice president of alumni programs. He became vice president three years later.

Peterson is credited with recruiting hundreds of volunteers and establishing “more than 200 events and diverse programs to serve alumni, highlight KU academic programs and identify and recruit prospective students,” the release said.

Peterson is married to Carrie Robertson Peterson, who is a Topeka dentist. They have three children.