Joe Usibelli Jr, President/CEO of Usibelli Coal Mine, presented Steve Jones, UAF Chancellor, two checks, one for $75,000 for the Usibelli Mining Scholarship and one for $96,876 for the Usibelli Honors Scholarship on June 30. These generous donations will be used to recruit students for the College of Engineering and Mines and to provide scholarships for students in the Honors Program at UAF.

The Usibellis have a history of strong advocacy for the university. Their philanthropy has been essential to student financial assistance programs, rewarding excellence in teaching, research and service at UAF through the Usibelli awards as well as vital support of the expansion of the UA Museum of the North; the new wing's centerpiece art gallery was named in honor of Rose Berry, late wife of Usibelli Coal Mine founder Emil Usibelli and mother of the elder Joe Usibelli.