Peter G. Simonson, Executive Director

Since 2000, Peter Simonson has served as Executive Director for ACLU-NM.  As primary spokesperson for the organization, Peter develops policy positions and addresses such diverse topics as national security, “zero tolerance” in public schools, racial profiling, immigrants rights, separation of church and state, and the protection of free speech rights. Under Peter’s leadership ACLU-NM has grown from 2,500 to over 6,000 members.  Our legal docket has grown from a dozen civil liberties cases a year to well over 30.

Prior to joining the ACLU, Peter directed a project to improve immigrants’ access to health care in Albuquerque.  For five years he worked in sustainable development and ethnographic research in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.  Peter earned his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1994.  He is a native of Albuquerque.