June 8, 2011

Ms. Yvette E. Conley, Director-Development

American Public Transportation Foundation

Dear Ms. Conley,

I would like to nominate Guy Peterson for a scholarship for the coming year.

I have known Guy since February 2010 when he worked for me on a project with Booz Allen Hamilton. He is an extraordinary individual in the combination of gifts he possesses: superior intelligence, high ethical standards, and outstanding interpersonal skills. On top of this, he is always looking to increase his own knowledge and to lead teams in achieving excellent results for clients. He has won many special awards at Booz Allen for his performance, and that he moved up in the firm so quickly (and without a graduate degree) demonstrates his exceptional work.

In his four years at Booz Allen, Guy has consistently maneuvered to work on projects in the transportation sector. He worked at the Federal Railroad Administration where he was tasked with, among other things, developing strategies for financing high-speed rail through innovative public-private sector partnerships and improving the US High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan. At the Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration, he worked on process engineering to establish and automate new processes led by data-driven safety evaluations (to reduce errors and cycle time). At the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, he helped assess driver safety outreach programs (for strategy, finances and processes) to lead to a national expansion. And I can go on (active member of American Public Transportation Association – serving on the Rail Transit Sub-Committee, etc.).

I know from discussions with Guy that the whole area of public-private partnerships in transportation fascinates him and is an area that he wants to learn more about and eventually have an impact on. For a young man in his 20’s to have such a clear vision for his future, I find exceptional (how often do you talk to people over cocktails on this subject?). His interest in transportation has surely been with him since birth, as his father has worked for a long time in the transportation field also. Public transportation is indeed Guy’s calling.

Guy was accepted at many top-ranked business schools. He picked Northwestern, his first choice, because of its Transportation Center and his ability to get an MBA and a Master of Engineering Management to broaden his skill/knowledge set. I am sure this will serve him well in his future career in the field.

I hope that you will consider investing in this young man’s career in public transportation. To have people of Guy’s caliber working in this area is indeed a gift to us all.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this recommendation. I can be reached at: office phone 202-324-1979; cell phone 214-912-9046. My address is: 2700 Virginia Ave., N.W., #1405, Washington, D.C. 20037.

Sincerely,

Debra K. Decker

Booz Allen Hamilton

And

Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University