Archive

Stories include profiles on donors from all walks of life exploring why they give to UAA, an overview of our first-ever systemwide fundraising campaign and more!

UAA is partnering with Willamette University College of Law to expand access to law degrees for Alaskan students, offering a new direct-admit juris doctor program for qualified UAA students and alumni who are planning to attend law school.

Physical therapist and UAA scholarship donor Pat McAdoo first encountered the university after moving to Alaska in 1985 to work at the Alaska Native Medical Center. A colleague there told her that one really needs to have some structured activities in the winter, so McAdoo signed up for a class at UAA in the evenings: Alaska, the Land and its People.

In April, chemistry major Michael Martinez was awarded the 2020 High North Young Entrepreneur Award for his startup Arctic Biotech Oath, which specializes in the green extraction of rare earth elements in circumpolar north countries.

For the last 30 years, Jeff Welker, professor in UAA’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been studying the Arctic, specifically snow and sea ice, and the impacts it has on the plants, animals and people who inhabit the globe’s most northern regions.

Since last year, important conversations on accountability in law enforcement have occurred across the country. It’s a topic close to justice alumnus Kenneth McCoy, deputy chief of operations and new acting chief of police for the Anchorage Police Department.

An estate gift valued at approximately $15 million from the late Caroline “Carrie” E.B. Lewis will support two endowments that build educational opportunities for first-generation college students and foster student success initiatives at UAA.

In our fourth episode, finance alumnus and co-founder of the 77Nation podcast Geser Bat-Erdene talks about the political impact his podcast has had on his home country of Mongolia, his approach to enact governmental change through his financial education, and his experiences as an international student attending UAA.

Despite the typical challenges of operating a business, plus the difficulties presented by a once-in-a-generation pandemic, these alumni-owned businesses have endured, thanks in part to community solidarity, government investment and forward thinking.

UA President Pat Pitney has selected former Alaska Governor Sean Parnell to serve as the next UAA chancellor. Parnell succeeds UAA Interim Chancellor Bruce Schultz and will assume his new position on June 12, 2021.