Peg Duchesne graduated from St. Mary’s College in 1977 with a degree in Psychology/Human Development. Peg joined the Alumni Council in 1996 and has been an active member for a dozen years. She served in officer roles as Council Secretary and Vice President before assuming the Presidency in June 2004. Peg has also been active with the College’s Seahawks Association, our athletic booster organization, serving as its initial President. Peg was instrumental in forming the Alumni Council’s Legislative Affairs Committee and has served as its Chair since its inception in 2001. Peg has worked closely with the Governmental Relations Committee of the Board of Trustees and helped facilitate the decision to acquire the “GetActive” software that enhances efforts to communicate more easily with lawmakers regarding issues of concern to the St. Mary’s College community. Her Council Committee involvement also includes the Scholarship & Recognition Committee, the Development Committee and the Technology Committee.
Peg has served on the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s College of Maryland as the President of the Alumni Association since 2004. She is co-chair of the Presidential Inauguration Committee and is a member of the Community Relations Committee and Governmental Relations Committee. Peg has served as Chair of the Board’s Governmental Relations Committee and also served on the Presidential Search Committee and the Board’s Enrollment and Student Affairs Committee. She is an active member of the Shared Advantage Program and the Arts Alliance. Peg was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame as a Legend in 2001.
Ms. Duchesne is a business consultant and owner of Duchess Enterprise, LLC. Prior to that, Peg spent 30 years as a legal assistant, legal secretary and paralegal at a variety of large law firms in and around Washington, D.C. She is an entrepreneur with USANA Health Sciences, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., FDI Voice, Melaleuca, COMF5, SendOutCards and MarketAmerica. Peg is a native Washingtonian, having grown up in Silver Spring and currently resides in Laurel, Maryland. She is an active and long-standing member of her church, St. John the Baptist Catholic Community in Silver Spring, serving on a number of ministries and committees including Social Justice, Stephen Ministry, Education Committee, Contemporary Choir, Communion Ministry, Lector, Sister Parish in Haiti, and is Past-President of the Parish Pastoral Council. She is also active with National Pastoral Musicians. Some who know her have referred to her as a “compulsive volunteer and constant networker.”
After graduating from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Peg served in the Maryland Army National Guard for 16 years, first as a company clerk and then as an Army Medic, advancing in rank to Staff Sergeant before attending Officer Candidate School (OCS) and receiving her commission. As a medical logistics officer, she rose to the rank of Captain before joining the Inactive Army Reserves, from which she is now retired.
Peg’s friends and colleagues know her to be personable and energetic. She enjoys music, theatre and traveling. Peg has two brothers and five sisters and is the proud aunt to 17 nieces and nephews. She is a frequent visitor to St. Mary’s county, not only to attend many college events, but also to visit her mother, Ann Duchesne, who, along with Peg’s father, Jack (deceased 2005), built their home in the mid-90’s in Leonardtown, along the banks of Breton Bay.
