UAF photo by Andrea Swingley

Joe Usibelli Jr. presents a $75,000 check for the Usibelli Mining Scholarship and a $96,876 check for the Usibelli Honors Scholarship to UAF Chancellor Steve Jones and Provost Paul Reichardt.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 6, 2006

Fairbanks, Alaska- Joe Usibelli Jr, president/CEO of Usibelli Coal Mine, recently presented two checks worth more than $170,000 to University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Steve Jones and Provost Paul Reichardt. One of the donations, worth $75,000, will support the Usibelli Mining Scholarship. The other totals $96,876 and will go toward the Usibelli Honors Scholarship. 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 Usibelli family has a history of strong advocacy for the university. Their philanthropy has been essential to student financial assistance programs and in rewarding faculty excellence in teaching, research and service at UAF through the annual Emil Usibelli awards. In addition, the Usibellis have provided vital support for 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.

CONTACT: Amanda Wall, donor relations manager, UAF Advancement Services, at (907) 474-6631 or via e-mail at amanda.wall@uaf.edu or www.uaf.edu/advance for more information.