Dr. Jon Peterka, President and co-founder of CPP, has retired after more than 32 years of leadership with the company and more than 50 years in wind engineering.

Dr. Peterka has been a pioneer and leader since he entered his field in the early days of its existence. As a student and, later, professor at Colorado State University, he worked with Dr. Jack Cermak to create and refine the tools and methods of wind engineering. The two co-founded CPP (then, Cermak Peterka & Associates) in 1981, making it the first company dedicated to wind engineering services.

Dr. Peterka has been a key figure in the development of the ASCE wind loading codes and wind tunnel testing procedures. He created the US non-hurricane wind hazard map and the wind map for the Colorado Front Range. He has won numerous awards and international recognition for his contributions to wind engineering and, by extension, to the safety, efficiency, and comfort of the built environment.

Although he is retiring, Dr. Peterka will continue to assist CPP in the role of Special Consultant, contributing his singular knowledge and experience to complex and unusual projects. He will also offer independent consulting to select projects and spend more time writing, which is an interest for which his pre-retirement schedule left little time.

We are extremely proud of the legacy we have inherited from Dr. Jon Peterka and we are honored to carry it forward. We wish him the very best in his retirement, though we know that “retirement” will be a relative term for him. 

Watch our posts for a retrospective of Dr. Peterka’s career.