Spotlight: Peter Hansen '91

Continuing the great lessons in Room 212 

When Peter Hansen ’91 learned he had gotten the job teaching American history at the Academy’s Upper School, he requested Room 212.

“As an American history student, I sat right there,” he said recently, pointing to a seat near the windows overlooking the playing fields where he excelled as a three-season athlete. “And that class is the reason I’m here.”

A product of Cornell, where he played football and ran track, and UNC-Chapel Hill for graduate school, Hansen left the cutthroat consulting world in 2018 to return to his alma mater—where his two children, Eloise and William, now attend, and where he has coached the outdoor track team to four consecutive league titles, a sectional title, and a state federation championship.

Like Albany Academy itself, the bones of Room 212 have stayed much the same. But plenty has changed.

Military uniforms and formation drills are in the past. The Upper School is co-ed; the student body is more diverse. Teachers emphasize student well-being alongside academics.

But, he says, students from K to 12 are still expected to dig deep and excel in classes, athletics, and clubs. They have a leg up in college and career. Hansen’s mentor, Vincent Zabinski, continues teaching history at the Academy.

And unlike public schools, they set the script.

“Mr. Zabinski taught history through stories. It was captivating,” Hansen says, streaming Oscar Peterson jazz between classes. “Now, I can teach to my passions. I make history really relevant because I want students to understand what’s going on in the world.”

Hansen offers units on civil rights and race; U.S. relations with Russia and China; our imprint on the Middle East; and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He recently shared how Greenland’s melting polar ice caps are exposing access to natural resources and new shipping lanes that other countries are eager to control.

The lessons spark interesting dinnertime conversations.

“Sometimes their parents will say, ‘Who ARE you?’” Hansen said proudly.

“He is a wonderful teacher,” said junior Anthony Lia. “He makes you see why something is important. He’s really conversing with us.”

At six-foot-five, wearing a pink checkered dress shirt and cufflinks bearing the U.S. Presidential seal (an accessory from a mock debate), Hansen is the picture of confidence. He wasn’t always.

“I was a very tall, very skinny, very shy kid,” he recalled. “My coaches and teachers brought out the competitor that I am. These are the lessons I kept at Cornell and during my career.”

Hansen was raised in Schenectady, where he now lives with his children and wife, Emily. His mother taught elementary school, and his father was a Union College history professor. They chose the Academy to give their son the best opportunities.

By the time he graduated cum laude, the skinny, shy kid had become a Section II all-star in football, basketball, and track, won the Ernest D. Steck Award for outstanding contribution to football, and was captain of Company B in the cadet battalion.

After Cornell and earning an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill, he pursued a consulting career that had him traveling across time zones most weekdays. As a partner at Accenture, Hansen helped Fortune 500 companies increase profitability and revenue. It was a constant adrenaline rush—followed by burnout and worries about his children.

Now, he has traded Delta Million Miler status for daily commutes to the Academy with his kids. Still, Hansen’s intensity shines through in Room 212, where one wall displays an annual photo of students acing the AP U.S. Government exam—getting more crowded by the year.

“When I started, I wanted to know the score of previous AP U.S. Government classes. On average, roughly half the class passed, and only about 10% scored a perfect five,” he said.

Now? The pass rate is around 75%, with 100% of last year’s class passing. His annual photos of “5” scorers have become crowded. In 2024, 70% scored a “5.” Among them are students he worked closely with to overcome doubt.

Another wall shows photos of his former athletes running for their college teams, and a plaque names him Times Union Coach of the Year. Hansen is preparing to launch Academy Connections, a competitive summer internship program.

For all his success, he is content simply to be teaching and coaching back at the Academy—a vocation he has always dreamed of.

Once, exhausted from travel and missing his family, he checked the Academy website and saw a posting for a middle school history teacher. He doubted he had the right qualifications. A few years later, he checked the Academy website again and found the Upper School listing.

“I thought, ‘How many signs do I need?’ I applied,” he said, as students began arriving for the next class. “I was not their first choice. They were going the traditional route. But that applicant withdrew, and they took a chance on me—and I will forever be grateful.”