DeWilde reached that goal--a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering--in May 2004, putting a capstone on the education he began at the Huslia homestead where he grew up.

When he went back to school in 1999, DeWilde already had a certificate in aviation maintenance from the University of Alaska Anchorage. He had worked as an aircraft mechanic for 10 years when, consulting a mechanical engineering textbook, he found he lacked the background to apply the book's equations. DeWilde wanted a better understanding of the aircraft he was maintaining, and the engineering textbook inspired him to head back to school--no small decision for a husband and father of four small children.

The sacrifice, he says, was worth it. He now works for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. as an engineer and liaison between manufacturers and Alyeska technicians. He loves his job, but what's even more important is the example he's set for his children: You're never too old to learn, and it's never too late to follow a dream.

"There are so many ways to get involved," she says. "The program teaches you not about having all the answers but asking the right questions. It's an art to lead people. You don't have to be a politician to be a leader--you can affect your friends or community by caring about something and working to change or improve it."

The Juneau native has no doubts about who she is or where she's going. Now a sophomore, she spent last year adjusting to college before joining the Nanook volleyball team. Her discipline as an athlete and her leadership skills will come into play as she pursues her major in civil engineering.

Not one to slow down, Ryder is already planning ahead to the end of her academic career. "I want to go on exchange to Australia or New Zealand. Once I graduate I want to travel, maybe with the Semester at Sea program. But I'll come back to Alaska to work, probably to Juneau. I miss the water and mountains. It's home."

The University of Alaska's president's professor program is made possible by the commitment of BP and ConocoPhillips Alaska to higher education in Alaska. The program helps support the university's ability to assist the state with its most important challenges by funding up to eight senior faculty positions in areas like ocean sciences, bioinformatics, behavioral health, educational technology, and satellite data retrieval and analysis.

James Ruppert provides insight about the North's social and cultural aspects. A president's professor, he is chair of the Department of Alaska Native Studies and a professor in the English and northern studies departments.

"ANS lets Alaska Natives and non-Natives meet and discuss problems, questions and concerns that sit between cultures," Ruppert explains. "We provide a place to compare policies among other countries, the Lower 48 and Alaska Native cultures. It's a meeting ground for discussing traditionalism, cultural changes, colonialism and the continuity of culture."

The interdisciplinary department collaborates with other academic units--like education, art and political science--to incorporate Native ideas and ways of thinking into their own structures. ANS creates an intellectual forum to discuss cultural ideas and expression and prepares students to continue and advance cultural knowledge.

The department is also creating ties with other institutions around the world, due in part to Ruppert's experiences as a three-time Fulbright scholar. ANS hosts international graduate students, assisting them in their research, and is currently planning a field school for Canadian Native studies undergraduates to visit UAF to discuss common cultural concerns and social questions.

"ANS has a direct impact on Alaska. We're at the crossroads of ideas and culture, history and tradition that inform the students who then go off and participate in the state, professionally and as citizens."

"UAF has a broader view of the Arctic as opposed to other places," Walsh says. "The expertise UAF offers in arctic research plus the obvious setting--the National Weather Service is right in our own building, the access to field research--that's what brought me here in the first place."

UAF is at the forefront of major scientific discoveries. "UAF participates in international assessments of arctic climate change," Walsh points out. "We bring the perspective of Alaskans to high-visibility, international efforts, helping bridge the science community with the political community and the general public, and alerting the world to what's going on."

As interest in global warming grows, UAF continues to research everything from physical phenomena like greenhouse gases and glacial melt to social science, anthropology and economics. "We are the arctic university in the United States," Walsh says. "Other universities have small pockets of arctic expertise, but not the concentration or diversity of UAF. We have experts in virtually every field in arctic science. No one else can say that."