Peter V. Sampo (January 25, 1931 – May 27, 2020) was an American educator and college founder. He was the founder of multiple Catholic liberal arts colleges and served as a president or president emeritus at several institutions.
Life and Career
Sampo was born in New Derry, Pennsylvania, the son of Peter and Aurelia Sampo. He served as a First Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy for four years. He earned an undergraduate degree (A.B.) from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and a master's degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
He taught at Saint Anselm College from 1962 to 1970, where he founded the Department of Political Science. He later served as Dean of Saint Francis College in Biddeford, Maine.
In 1974, together with former high school teacher John Meehan and businessman Francis Boucher, Sampo founded Magdalen College in Bedford, New Hampshire (later Northeast Catholic College, relocated to Warner, New Hampshire). He served as president of Magdalen College from 1974 to 1977.
In 1977, he left to co-found Cardinal Newman College in Missouri, which closed for financial reasons in 1985.
In 1978, he founded Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire, offering a four-year liberal arts curriculum inspired by educators Donald and Louise Cowan. He served as president of Thomas More College until 2006.
In 2009, he founded the Erasmus Institute of Liberal Arts in Canterbury, New Hampshire. In 2011, its students joined Magdalen College, along with Sampo and other faculty.
He returned to Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, where he was named President Emeritus and continued teaching until his death.
Personal Life
Sampo was first married to Lenora (DeGrandis) Sampo, who predeceased him in 1993. He later married Mary Mumbach Sampo, a former academic dean. He had six children: Peter, Michael, Vincent, David, Rosanne, and Theresa; as well as thirteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He died on May 27, 2020, at Concord Hospital in New Hampshire.
Honors and Recognition
- 2007: New England Board of Higher Education "Higher Education Excellence" award
- 2008: CiRCE Institute Paideia Prize, named in honor of historian Russell Kirk
- Notre Dame Exemplary Alumnus Award
- Governor's Council of New Hampshire Award
Selected References
- Wikipedia, "Peter V. Sampo"
- Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, "The Death of a Founder: Peter V. Sampo (1931-2020), Requiescat in Pace" (May 29, 2020)
- Phaneuf Funeral Homes, Peter V. Sampo Obituary (May 27, 2020)
- Mary Jo Weaver, Being Right: Conservative Catholics in America (Indiana University Press, 1995)
