Minnesota Twins president and UND alum Dave St. Peter will give the commencement address Friday, Dec. 18, for both the 10 a.m. graduate degree and the 2 p.m. undergraduate degree ceremonies. Both are at the Chester Fritz Auditorium and both will be Webcast live.
St. Peter, who graduated from UND in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in public relations, was named the fourth president of Minnesota Twins in 2002. He oversees the team’s strategic planning process and the club’s business departments, including ticket sales and service, corporate partnerships, marketing, community affairs, communications, broadcasting, ballpark operations, human resources, technology and finance. St. Peter is also involved in business-related baseball decisions as well as the design, construction, and opening of Target Field, the team’s new ballpark being built in Minneapolis’ Historic Warehouse District.
At age 43, St. Peter begins his 21st year with the Twins in 2010. He joined the Twins organization in 1990 and held several positions, including vice president of corporate communications. He was named senior vice president of business affairs in February 1999 and assembled a sales and marketing group that has increased annual attendance eight of the last nine years and in aggregate by more than 128 percent since 2000. In addition, St. Peter’s leadership has been integral in the team’s growing corporate partnership base, expanded Twins Radio Network, aggressive community outreach and enhanced alumni involvement, including the development of the Twins Hall of Fame.
St. Peter has been part of a leadership team helping the franchise win five American League Central Division championships in the past eight seasons (2002-2004, 2006 and 2009). During St. Peter’s leadership, the Twins have twice been named “Organization of the Year” by Baseball America.
St. Peter was born in Bismarck, N.D., and lives in Eden Prairie, Minn., with his wife Joanie, son Jack, and twin sons Eric and Ben.
