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TOURISM INDUSTRY PIONEERS GIVE $1 MILLION TO UAF
Fairbanks, Alaska — Alaska tourism industry pioneers Charles B. “Chuck” and Marguerite Lee West announced their $1 million donation to the University of Alaska Fairbanks today to a standing ovation at the Alaska Visitors Association annual convention at the Carlson Center.
In making his announcement Chuck West said, “You have to have a beginning someplace, and tourism began right here in this town. Marguerite and I are pleased to be here at the largest-ever AVA convention to present this gift.”
The Wests said they chose UAF to receive their personal donation as an acknowledgment of the university’s role in building the state’s visitor industry and their desire to give something back to the state from which they believe they benefited so much.
“The university started in Charles Bunnell’s day, and so began a museum preserving Alaska’s quality and culture. It’s our pleasure to show our appreciation for what this university has done for all of us,” Chuck West said.
UAF Chancellor Joan Wadlow accepted the donation during the noon governor’s luncheon. “This magnificent gift will help the university expand one of the state’s greatest treasures, the University of Alaska Museum. We will use this as a challenge to others, as a magnet. The museum is especially important in protecting and promoting the very fine and precious history of Alaska,” Wadlow said.
Gov. Tony Knowles, the keynote speaker for the AVA convention, congratulated
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the Wests for their generous gift. “It speaks to your sense of community and state. It is a vote of confidence in Alaska’s future and your vision that there will be the same opportunities for others that you have had,” the governor said.
Chuck West is a founding member of AVA and is widely credited with developing and expanding the visitor industry in Alaska. AVA was established in 1951 and today the association has about 700 members.
West came to Alaska during World War II to fly supplies for Western Airlines to military bases in Alaska. He later flew for the U.S. Air Force in China. After the war, West flew for the Wien brothers and Wien Air Alaska.
In 1946, West quit Wien Airlines and began Arctic Alaska Tours in Fairbanks with his wife, who won the first Miss Alaska title in 1937. Three of the couple’s four children were born in Fairbanks.
According to West, known in the visitor industry as “Mr. Alaska,” Arctic Alaska Tours used Fairbanks campus dormitories for several of the early years because downtown hotel space was limited. West brought tourists to the Interior by steamship, bus and railroad. From Fairbanks, tourists were flown north. West said the university was always a popular stop on his tours.
The couple’s small local business grew quickly to include hotel development. Tour opportunities were expanded statewide, and the company provided tours to locations throughout Alaska. The Wests moved to Seattle in 1952.
In 1971, the Wests sold their tour company to Holland America and founded a new company, Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West. The business provides small, personal tour packages and is the third-largest tourism-related company in Alaska. Chuck West remains chairman of the company.
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CONTACT: UAF Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Institutional Advancement Karen Cedzo, (907) 474-7587.
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