University Relations 202 Eielson Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7520
(907)474-7581 Fax (907)474-6492
fynews@uaf.edu
$15,000 BULLOCK PRIZE GOES
TO UAF HISTORY PROF
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 1998
Fairbanks, Alaska - University of Alaska Fairbanks history professor Terrence M. Cole is the recipient of the 1998 Edith R. Bullock Prize for Excellence given annually by the University of Alaska Foundation. Cole will receive a $15,000 check during an evening reception in his honor May 18 at the home of Chancellor Joan Wadlow and her husband Dick.
Cole is the fifth UAF recipient of the prize named after Edith R. Bullock, a former territorial legislator and UA Regent who died in 1994. The Bullock Award was established in 1990 by the UA Foundation to reward those in the university community who have achieved excellence in support of the institution statewide.
UAF director of budget and cost records Betty Hoch received the prize in 1991, marine science professor Tom Royer and geophysics professor Gunter Weller each received the $15,000 prize in 1993, and last year, UAF Geophysical Institute Director Syun-Ichi Akasofu was the Bullock prize-winner.
Cole has been with UAF since 1988 and is the author of numerous articles, monographs and books on a wide range of historical subjects. His 1991 "Crooked Past" is considered the definitive work on Fairbanks' early days. His 1994 "The Cornerstone on College Hill" is considered the most authoritative work on the university's first 75 years and the best description of the institution's key role in helping to develop the state of Alaska.
Recognized by his students and his colleagues for the enthusiasm he brings to teaching history and his ability to explain history's essential relationship to modern life, Cole in 1994 was the recipient of the Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching Award. That award carries a $10,000 prize.
Cole is widely known for his dedication to students and for participating in numerous activities supporting students and student activities. He is also known for his advocacy of the university through guest editorials which have appeared in Alaska's two largest newspapers, the Anchorage Daily News and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and through his free lectures provided to historical, civic and community groups statewide.
In 1976, Cole graduated from UAF with a bachelor's degree in geography and northern studies, and in 1978, he earned his master's in history from UAF. In 1983 he received a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Washington and that same year became a writer and editor for the Alaska Northwest Publishing Co., ultimately editing the "Alaska Journal."
Cole joined the history department at UAF in 1988 and today serves as the department chair. He continues to edit books on Alaska as an editor for the University of Alaska Press and appears on television, radio and in print as an authority on Alaska's history.
Most recently, Cole wrote a history of the Alaska Territory's grant of land in 1915 from the U.S. Congress to establish a college in Fairbanks. Of the nearly 350,000 acres originally earmarked by Congress for an Alaska land-grant university, only 100,000 acres remain. Delaware is the only state with a smaller land-grant. Cole's land-grant history became the basis for a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, currently before the U.S. Senate, requesting that additional federal land be given to the university.
CONTACT: UAF
Public Information Officer Debra Damron, (907) 474-7122 or by
e-mail fynews@aurora.alaska.edu
UAF NEWS RELEASES AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY AT:
http://www.uaf.edu/univrel/media/
DPD/5-13-98/98-061
Return to Media Releases FY98
Return to news releases main page