The Simpson family is well known in Wyoming. Dr. Peter Simpson taught Wyoming politics at the University of Wyoming until 2011 and was a memeber of the Wyoming House of Representatives for Sheridan County. Pictured from top left clockwise; Peter Simpson, Jr., Dr. Peter Simpson, Milward Simpson, Lynne Simpson, and Maggie Simpson.
Public service is at the heart of everything he does — from serving as a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives to teaching and molding young minds as a professor at the University of Wyoming.
“Dad always encouraged the notion of public service,” Dr. Peter “Pate” Kooi Simpson said.
Serving the public is what led his father to take the plunge into politics in 1926, starting a long history of Simpsons representing Wyoming residents.
In 1981, Simpson ran for and won a seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives as a representative for Sheridan County. He held that office until 1984. In 1986, he ran a campaign to be the governor of Wyoming, but was defeated by Democrat Michael Sullivan.
Public service also led Simpson to serve as a bombardier navigator in the United States Navy from 1954-1958.
“This was at the tail end of Korea,” Simpson said.
His time in the Navy allowed him to travel around the Mediterranean Sea and Europe, an experience he said he will always cherish.
Simpson received his master’s degree in history from UW in 1962 and his Ph.D., also in history, from the University of Oregon. He returned to Wyoming and went to work as the assistant to the president of Casper College. He also served as Dean of Instruction at Sheridan College before finally arriving back at the University of Wyoming as Vice President of Institutional Advancement.
His commitment to public service led to fundraising efforts that resulted in the construction of the American Heritage Center at the university. The AHC serves as a depository of artifacts and historical documents available to the public for research purposes.
He retired from this position in 1997, but continued to be a part of the UW landscape because he began teaching classes on Wyoming politics. After teaching for 14 years, he officially retired from UW in 2011. The thing he misses most is the students, he said.
Simpson and his wife, Lynne, founded a non-profit theater production company 40 years ago, called Spontaneous Theater Productions.
“We’ve produced countless productions statewide in that time,” Simpson said.
STP will be in Laramie Nov. 16 at the Arts and Sciences Auditorium with a production of Stephen Vincent Benet’s epic poem, John Brown’s Body. Tickets are available online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts or they can be picked up at the Wyoming Union Information Desk.
