In Memoriam: Peter Li
- By Deborah P. Moore
- 04/01/16
The School Planning & Management and
College Planning & Management team is deeply
saddened by the death of Peter Li this past
month. With his passing, the education and publishing
industries lost a champion, and many of
us have lost a mentor and a friend.
In the early 1970s Peter founded the Peter
Li Education Group, an educational publishing
and media company serving the pK–12 through
higher education markets. The company was the
publisher of titles that included School Planning & Management and College Planning & Management (now a part of 1105 Media, Inc.); Pflaum
Publishing Group, CATECHIST magazine and
Today’s Catholic Teacher magazine (now a part
of Bayard); and other titles, including Technology & Learning, Today’s
School and Early Childhood News.
A visionary and leader in the education publishing industry, Peter
was inducted into both the Hall of Fame of the Association of Educational
Publishers and the Association of Catholic Publishers’ Hall
of Fame. After 40 years in the industry Peter sold the company, but
remained very much interested in educational innovation.
A forward-thinking man, his influence on the education industry
was great. In 1984, the year when the Apple Macintosh was first introduced
and the ratio of students to computers was 1:92, he decided to
publish a magazine to assist teachers with technology as the computer
revolution began. In 1992 he acquired School Planning & Management,
a magazine that was established in 1962, to help those responsible
for facilities, construction, security and the financial stability of
our nation’s schools. Understanding the important role facilities play
in education, he expanded the editorial coverage to include a special
section for colleges. In 1995 he funded our first annual School and
College Construction Reports, and in 1998 began publishing College
Planning & Management as a standalone magazine.
Peter was dedicated to making schools a better place for students
and staff, and through the years supported and nurtured our publications,
allowing them to grow into the resources they are today. For
that, we thank him. He will be greatly missed by all of us.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .