Peter Cole Blasier was born on September 27, 1953, in Munich, Germany, to Stewart Cole Blasier and Martha Hiett Blasier. His parents were American citizens, and his family later became associated with Pittsburgh, where his legal career developed.
Blasier received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Harvard University in 1975. Harvard, founded in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States and has long combined broad liberal-arts education with preparation for professional and public life.
He received a Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1980. Fordham Law, established in New York within the Jesuit educational tradition, combines professional legal training with an emphasis on ethics, public service, and the study of law in its social context.
Blasier began his professional career in banking with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in New York City, where he worked from 1975 to 1977. Morgan Guaranty was a major American commercial and investment-banking institution whose activities included corporate finance and international banking.
After earning his law degree and being admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1980, he practiced with Thorp, Reed & Armstrong in Pittsburgh from 1980 to 1985. The firm was part of the Pittsburgh legal environment serving the region's industrial, financial, and corporate enterprises.
From 1985 to 1990, Blasier was chief counsel for corporation finance and transactions at Westinghouse Credit Corporation in Pittsburgh. Westinghouse Credit provided financing connected with the broader Westinghouse industrial and commercial system, placing his legal work within the expanding field of corporate finance.
He then served as vice president of law, secretary, and general counsel of Westinghouse Finance from 1990 to 1993. These positions combined senior legal advice with corporate-secretarial responsibilities in a period when financial companies were increasingly managing complex securities, lending, and transactional structures.
Blasier became a shareholder of Klett Lieber Rooney & Schorling in Pittsburgh in 1993 and remained there until 1997. In 1997 he joined Reed Smith Shaw & McClay as a partner. Reed Smith, headquartered in Pittsburgh and developed from a regional law firm into an international practice, provides legal services in corporate transactions, finance, securities, litigation, and other areas of commercial law.
Professional listings describe Blasier's practice at Reed Smith as including corporate and securities law, capital markets, emerging-growth and venture-capital matters, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, real estate, and securities-related investment matters. He was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania in 1980 and to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in the same year.
Blasier participated in professional, civic, and international-affairs organizations in Pittsburgh. His affiliations included the American Bar Association, the Association for Corporate Growth, the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, the Eye and Ear Foundation associated with UPMC Health System, and the United Nations Association of Pittsburgh.
The Association for Corporate Growth connects professionals involved in corporate growth, mergers, acquisitions, and private investment. The United Nations Association promotes public understanding of the United Nations and international cooperation; Blasier served on the Pittsburgh association's board and was later identified as its past president. His involvement with the Association for Corporate Growth included service as a director and past president of its Pittsburgh organization.
Served on the board of directors and as vice president of membership; later identified as a past president.
United Nations Association of Pittsburgh , United States
1995
Served as a regional president and director.
Association for Corporate Growth, Pittsburgh , United States
1997
American Bar Association , United States
Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association , United States
Served on the board of directors and its governance committee.
Eye and Ear Foundation , United States
Blasier is the son of Stewart Cole Blasier and Martha Hiett Blasier. His father, Cole Blasier, was an American political scientist, diplomat, and professor whose career included service in the United States Foreign Service and teaching at the University of Pittsburgh.
Blasier married Molly Alpert. They have three children: Emily Hiett Blasier, Louisa Eve Blasier, and Gavin Brockett Blasier.
An American political scientist, diplomat, and professor associated with the United States Foreign Service and the University of Pittsburgh.
