The UAF Honors Program began in 1983 with Professor Suzanne Sommerville of the Music Department as the first Director. She did not serve long, but got the program going, and moved it into its first site in the little house at 515 Copper Lane, at the east end of Copper Lane. The program was administratively a part of the College of Liberal Arts.

The program truly blossomed under the leadership of Professor Pat Andresen from the Math Department. In the early days, enrollment was limited to one hundred students because at that time students in the Honors Program received a tuition waiver. While this was a good recruitment tool, especially for students from outside Alaska, that benefit unfortunately ended during the budgetary crisis of the mid-1990's.

After Professor Andresen retired in 1993 and was awarded the title of Director Emeritus, Professor John Whitehead of the History Department became the third Director of the Honors Program. His tenure in office was marked by the receipt of several impressive contributions from the Usibelli Foundation. While some of that money was used to establish endowed scholarships, most went to "Usibelli Tuition Grants."

Upon Professor Whitehead's retirement, Professor Roy Bird of the English Department became Director in January 1999. At the time, the Honors Program was still accepting about 25 students per year. Professor Bird was the longest serving Director, serving the program for more than nine years. He presided over a major growth of the Honors Program, more than tripling enrollment by 2003. With the establishment of the Alaska Scholars Program, the Honors Program became committed to support the efforts of the University of Alaska to keep talented Alaskan students in the state.

Professor Bird also oversaw the move of the home of the Honors Program to the other end of Copper Lane, its present site at 520 Copper Lane. The second Honors House is more than twice as large as the previous site. (It was a bittersweet moment for the program when the first Honors House was destroyed in a controlled burn by the University Fire Department during Spring Break 2004.) The new, more comfortable space helped with recruitment efforts. Several TAB grants enabled the program to install a number of computers, a computer projection system, and a wireless LAN.

In 2007, Professor Bird led the program through the transition from being a part of the College of Liberal Arts to being based under the University's Chief Academic Officer, Provost Susan Henrichs. That transition, which resulted from a review of the program by former Provost Paul Reichardt, paved the way for further programmatic growth, especially in the Honors curriculum. Professor Bird retired and became the second Director Emeritus of the Honors Program in 2008. Professor Channon Price of the Physics Department was appointed the current Director of the Honors Program.

Compiled by Roy Bird and Kerrie Dufseth