Peter Skewes (born 1957) is an American university professor and political activist best known for his candidacy for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

as the nominee of the

American Party of South Carolina The American Party of South Carolina is a third party in the United States. Established in 2014, the party is active only in South Carolina. History The American Party of South Carolina was founded by physician Oscar Lovelace and former South C ...

in the 2016 presidential election.

Early life and education

Skewes was born in

Glastonbury, Connecticut Glastonbury ( ) is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, formally founded in 1693 and first settled in 1636. It was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is on the banks of the Connecticut River, southeast o ...

, and earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

from the University of New Haven in 1979, going on to receive a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Poultry Physiology from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1982 and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in Animal Physiology from

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

in 1985. He was the 1985 recipient of the Graduate Student Research Manuscript Award from the Poultry Science Association.

Career

Academia

Skewes began teaching animal and veterinary science at Clemson University in 1985; there, he studies

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

issues and the behavior of domestic animals. At Clemson, in addition to his teaching and research duties, Skewes served as chair of the university's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Skewes also serves on the editorial board of the scholarly journal ''

Poultry Science The Poultry Science Association (PSA) is an American non-profit professional organization for the advancement of poultry science. Founded in 1908, the PSA is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Consisting of 1800 members, PSA is involved in r ...

''.

Politics

In May 2016 Skewes won the nomination of the

in a three-way contest; the party had been founded in 2014 by former South Carolina Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. According to Skewes, he was motivated to run for president because, for the first time in his life he was "not going to be able to vote for the president with a clear conscience", regardless of which of the Democratic or Republican candidates were ultimately nominated by their respective parties. During his campaign, he walked 240 miles across

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

as part of a publicity stunt to raise awareness for his candidacy. Rex commented on Skewes' walk that it was "a testament to the fact that the American Party has an ability to attract a different type of person to run for public office". According to Skewes' campaign website, he advocated eliminating Super PACs, abolishing the

United States Electoral College The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

, supporting family planning education to "reduce unplanned pregnancies", and instituting "a national drug registry to reduce abuse of prescription drugs". Skewes told the '' Greenville News'' that he would consider his candidacy a success if he placed third in the presidential vote in South Carolina. Skewes ultimately placed seventh out of seven candidates, receiving 3,221 votes, or about 0.2-percent of the total ballots cast in South Carolina.

Personal life

Skewes is married; his wife, Teresa, is an employee of Clemson University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skewes, Peter Living people Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election 1957 births University of New Haven alumni University of Florida alumni Virginia Tech alumni People from Glastonbury, Connecticut Clemson University faculty