In November 1964 Petersen transferred to the Sacramento District as a project engineer in
the planning branch. Margaret Petersen worked on a series of projects and studies, such as the
Morrison Creek Stream Group Project, the Sacramento River Shallow-draft Navigation Project, the
deep-draft San Francisco Bay to Stockton Project, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta project for
flood control. She was Chief of the Marysville Lake Investigations Section where she was
responsible for planning the Marysville Lake multiple-purpose dam and reservoir, which was never
built. Petersen retired from the Corps of Engineers Sacramento District in 1977.
In the fall of 1980, Petersen was appointed a visiting associate professor in the Department
of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.
While teaching, she developed four graduate-level courses in hydraulic engineering largely based
on her personal experience with the Corps of Engineers:
Hydropower Engineering
River Engineering
Flow Through Hydraulic Structures
River Basin and Project Planning
In 1987 the University of Iowa acknowledged Margaret Petersen's many accomplishments
when it awarded her its Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. In 1990 she became only the
second woman to be elected to Honorary Membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers.
She became Emerita Associate Professor in 1991. She has lectured in South Africa, China, and
Morocco and done consulting work for many years. In 1997 she finally retired fully from her
teaching responsibilities. Nonetheless, Petersen continues to be an invited lecturer around the world
and to participate in the engineering profession to which she has contributed so much.
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