Peter J. Kendall was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1960. He was raised in St. Peter, Minnesota where his father was a career professor and administrator at Gustavus Adolphus College. Peter graduated with a BA from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa in 1982. After college he attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he obtained his MBA and MHA (Master of Healthcare Administration).

Early in his career he served as a healthcare executive with Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus, Ohio) and Augusta University Health System (Augusta, Georgia). In 2002 Peter joined Lenoir-Rhyne University (LRU) in Hickory, North Carolina as the Vice President for Administration and Finance. He was promoted to Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance in 2012 and served the university through his retirement from that position in 2020. The university grew substantially during his tenure: total enrollment from 1,492 to 2,742, total revenues from $23.3 million to $58.8 million, annual cash flow from operations from $101K to $5.7 million, total endowment from $39.8 million to $112.0 million and total net assets from $52.3 million to $224.3 million.

Several years prior to his retirement from LRU, Peter and his wife, Pam, obtained their North Carolina real estate licenses. They now own and operate Kendall Real Estate (www.kendall-realestate.com) and live in Conover, North Carolina. They are the parents of three grown children: Erik (graduate of Elon University) and wife Christina, Mark (graduate of UNC-Ashville) and wife Jennifer, and Sara (graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne University). They are grandparents to Elle and William Kendall.