JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE FROM UAF THIS SPRING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 1999

Fairbanks, Alaska - Japan's Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi is one of four people to receive the highest tribute a university can bestow upon an individual by accepting an honorary degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks this spring. Obuchi, who became prime minister of Japan last July, is being recognized for his leadership and support for Japan-U.S. cooperation in global change research at UAF's International Arctic Research Center.

IARC brings together under one roof a collection of international scientists from various disciplines conducting collaborative research activities involving global change. As an important part of the "U.S.-Japan Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective," both U.S. and Japanese science agencies occupy the newly constructed, $32 million IARC building. The center, which opened in the fall of 1998, takes advantage of UAF's geographic location at the top of the world to advance studies of national and international interest.

Before Obuchi became Japanese prime minister, he was the country's foreign affairs minister. In that post he was a strong supporter of IARC. Obuchi has also served as vice-president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party and he was Chief Cabinet Secretary under former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita. Obuchi will be awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree.

The commencement keynote address will be given this year by Lois DeFleur, president of the State University of New York at Binghamton. DeFleur is a prominent national leader in higher education and well known sociologist.

She has headed two of the nation's largest higher education associations. In 1996, DeFleur was the first woman elected to chair the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the oldest higher education coalition in the country. NASULGC includes 179 public research land-grant universities and colleges enrolling more than 2.9 million students. She is also the immediate past chair of the American Council on Education, a national higher education advocacy group which includes about 1,600 accredited, degree-granting member organizations and nearly 200 national and regional higher education associations. Under DeFleur's leadership, ACE focused its attention on challenges facing higher education today, such as new technologies, distance learning, maintaining access, internationalization and increasing college costs.

DeFleur has been president of SUNY-Binghamton since 1990. She oversees operation of SUNY-Binghamton's five schools, its 2,000 faculty and staff and more than 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to her position as Binghamton's president, she held major administrative positions in two land-grant universities. She was provost of the University of Missouri-Columbia. At Washington State University, she was dean of the College of Liberal Arts after serving as director of the Criminal Justice Research Center and director of the doctoral training program in deviant behavior. DeFleur will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

Also receiving honorary degrees during commencement ceremonies at UAF May 9 are pioneer Alaskan Frank Chapados and Native elder Katherine Peter.

Born in the Yukon River community of Stevens Village, Peter moved to Fort Yukon in 1925 after the death of her parents. She was adopted by Chief Esias and Katherine Loola, a leading Fort Yukon family. Growing up in Stevens Village, Peter learned to speak Koyukon, one of 11 separate Alaska Athabascan languages. When Peter moved to Fort Yukon, she had to learn Gwich'in Athabascan. She also learned a writing system based on a Canadian dialect of Gwich'in, which required understanding of yet another version of the language. Her English language and literacy skills were developed while attending Fort Yukon's one-room Bureau of Indian Affairs school.

Peter moved to Arctic Village in 1936 after she married Steven Peter. Her proficiency in English and Gwich'in prompted the community to draft her as school teacher. She taught school in Arctic Village and in Fort Yukon prior to her family's move to Fairbanks in 1970. Three years later, Peter was hired by the UAF Alaska Native Language Center, where she served as a faculty member for seven years. She continues her association with the center today as a consultant and is currently working on a project with her daughter Kathy Sikorski, a linguist employed at UAF.

Considered one of the nation's most knowledgeable Alaskan Gwich'in educators, Peter has transcribed, composed and written more than 100 works, including her own autobiography "Living in the Chandalar Country," which received an American Book Award in 1993. Peter will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree for her lifetime of work studying, documenting and teaching Gwich'in Athabascan.

Juneau-born Frank Chapados moved to Fairbanks in 1939 and has been a longtime advocate of economic development in Alaska. He was among many who lobbied for Alaska statehood, which was granted in1959. Chapados was elected a member of the first Alaska State Legislature, where he served two terms in the House of Representatives, including a post as chairman of the House Finance Committee.

Chapados began his career in law enforcement and in 1949 was appointed U.S. Marshal by President Harry Truman. He resigned in 1953 to become a partner in the Fairbanks-based moving and storage company, H&S Warehouse. Throughout his more than 30 years with the firm, Chapados took a leadership role in helping to develop Alaska's transportation infrastructure. He is the former vice chairman of the Alaska Railroad Board of Directors and former president of the Alaska Truckers Association.

During World War II, Chapados served in the U.S. Navy and continues today to be a strong supporter of the military in Alaska, serving on citizens' advisory boards for both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. He is a current or past member of various groups statewide, including the Alaska State Board of Education, Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Pioneers of Alaska, and the state guide control and licensing board. He is also a member of the University of Alaska Foundation's College of Fellows, where he has used his position to promote the university's services and its academic and research programs. Chapados will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from UAF for his many contributions to the state and to the university

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos of honorees available upon request

CONTACT: UAF Public Information Officer Debra Damron, (907) 474-7581.

DPD/4-9-99/99-065