CRA DEAN TO RETURN TO TEACHING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 5, 2001

Fairbanks, Alaska –After eleven years as an administrator for the University of Alaska Fairbanks' College of Rural Alaska, Executive Dean Ralph Gabrielli will step down this July.

Gabrielli came to the University of Alaska's Northwest Community College in 1980. At Northwest he taught English and education and served as dean of students. Shortly after the 1987 merger of community colleges and UAF, Gabrielli moved to the Fairbanks campus as associate dean of CRA. He was appointed as the college's executive dean in 1992.

Under Gabrielli's direction CRA saw growth in programs and units such as Rural Human Services, Rural Development, the Center for Distance Education, the Tanana Valley Campus and the Cooperative Extension Service.

"There's so much to be proud of at the College of Rural Alaska and much of the success is due to the efforts of Ralph Gabrielli," said UAF Chancellor Marshall Lind.

Gabrielli plans to take a short break, but will return to the classroom as a faculty member in the department of Alaska Native and Rural Development.

"I especially look forward to getting back to teaching – an activity I've missed more than I ever thought I would," said Gabrielli.

CRA geographically serves nearly two-thirds of the state of Alaska, representing more than 160 primarily Native Alaska communities. UAF's extended campuses include Northwest (Nome), Kuskokwim (Bethel), Bristol Bay (Dillingham) and Chukchi (Kotzebue), and the Interior-Aleutians and Tanana Valley campuses both in Fairbanks. CRA also oversees the Center for Distance Education, the state's Cooperative Extension Service and the Department of Alaska Native and Rural Development.

"The current focus on rural and vocational mission as well as the college's focus on Alaska Natives is mightily supported by UA Leadership," Gabrielli said. "Our system president has made CRA's mission a priority for the entire University of Alaska and our UAF chancellor has a record as a spokesman for rural and Native education that extends back four decades, so I know that CRA's future is bright."

Gabrielli received his undergraduate degree in 1965 from the State University of New York and his doctorate from Syracuse University in 1971. He was a professor in the SUNY system before coming to Alaska.

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CONTACT: UAF Public Information Officer Carla Browning at 907-474-7778 or email: carla.browning@uaf.edu

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