Stories of impact

Fall 2024

From the chancellor

See caption and credit below image for description
Chancellor Dan White

Friends of UAF,

Earlier this month, we hosted the UAF Blue and Gold Celebration, a can’t-miss evening celebrating what makes UAF unique. In addition to eating s'mores on the patio, enjoying live music from a band of alumni, and raising funds to provide vital scholarships for students, we also had the privilege of acknowledging the recipients of this year’s Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Research, and Service Awards. Thank you to everyone who attended this event in support of UAF. I appreciate traditions, new and old, that allow us to reflect on the long history of community engagement at UAF.

I am excited to share some new things on campus this fall. I invite you to come check them out! This summer, we reopened the newly renovated Moore and Bartlett residence halls. Students moved into dorms with new furniture, new bathrooms, and (invisible to them) new pipes. We also opened the doors at the new Student Success Center this semester. Located on the sixth floor of the Rasmuson Library, this one-stop-shop for student support is a modern, welcoming space for students to access all the services they need to succeed. Thank you to the GHEMM Company and Bettisworth North for their work on these two spaces.

In addition to the new, we are also proud to celebrate our traditions. This fall, students will celebrate one of UAF’s oldest traditions with Starvation Gulch. The bonfires have been a symbol of the passing of the torch of knowledge to our new students since 1923. Our Board of Regents celebrated 107 years since their first meeting, and I appreciate their consistent support of UAF. UAF has been around for a long time, in no small part due to the generosity of donors like you. You are part of a long tradition of community support for UAF. Your investment in our university will allow us to create new traditions for many years to come. Thank you for giving what you have and what you will as we celebrate the old and the new this year at UAF.

Thank you.

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Dan White
Chancellor

Recent benefactor highlights

Businesses, corporations, individuals and foundations give generously to UAF. This report reflects gifts and donations totaling $25,000 or more to the University of Alaska Fairbanks between May 1 and Aug. 31, 2024.

BUSINESS AND CORPORATE

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company gave to the Alyeska Pipeline Alaska Native Scholarship and to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company RAHI Support Fund.

GCI gave to the UAF eSports Program Support Fund.

Northern Star gave to the Mining and Petroleum Training Service Support Fund.

Northrim Bank gave to the Northwest Campus Support Fund and to the College of Business and Security Management Support Fund.

The Pollock Conservation Cooperative, composed of Trident Seafoods, Glacier Fish Company and American Seafoods Company, gave to the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center Endowment.

Wiseman Metals gave to the GeoFORCE Alaska Support Fund.

Xtreme Habitats Institute gave to the UAF College of Engineering and Mines.

INDIVIDUAL

Carl S. and Ruth* G. Benson gave to Wrangell Mountains and Greenland Research Fund.

Robert* and Mary* Claus gave to the John Robert and Mary Claus Fund.

Mary F. Croxton* gave to the Croxton Family Fellowship.

Nancy Eliason gave to the UAMN Eliason Beringian Research Endowment Fund.

John Mancuso established the John and Rhoda Mancuso Basketball Endowed Scholarship.

Glenn Potts and Pamela Flory gave to the College Rotary Scholarship.

Alan Straub gave to the Alan Straub Civil Engineering Equipment Support Fund.

FOUNDATION AND ASSOCIATION

Crankstart Foundation gave to the Crankstart Reentry Scholarship.

Jay Pritzker Foundation gave to the Mammalogy Research and Training Support Fund.

Johnson Scholarship Foundation gave to the Johnson Scholarship Foundation Business Scholarship.

*indicates deceased

 

Stories of impact

Xochitl Muñoz visits a scenic spot in Denali National Park.

Aug 15

Donor scholarships have transformative impacts on students across UAF’s wide array of academic programs.

Photo of new ski trail for competition

Aug 14

A gift from Usibelli Coal Mine helped create a 2.5K route that meets official competition standards

The distinguished alumnus takes a moment to admire the legacy of Alaska Nanooks hockey.

May 23

Ryan Muspratt, recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Alumnus Award, reached beyond personal goals after a hockey injury and never looked back.

Carol Swarts and a colleague stand by the Arctic Circle sign on the Dalton Highway during their ground squirrel research trip.

May 23

A medical doctor impressed with a UAF professor’s neuroscience work has created a student scholarship in the professor’s name

Jerry Swartz stands with his daughter Judy and son Dave in front of a Cessna 150, the first plane Jerry bought. It was later replaced with a Cessna 180, whose engine Jerry overhauled. Photo courtesy of Peggy Swartz.

Feb 09

Graduate students and family celebrate Jerry Swartz and his birds, mammals and devotion to proper English.

Members of Cold Steel play an ensemble of music with steel drums during a UAF Summer Sessions’ Music in the Garden concert at the Georgeson Botanical Garden in 2015. UAF photo by JR Ancheta.

Feb 08

Dedicated board members work to sustain and improve the beloved Georgeson Botanical Garden.

UAF photo by Amy Chausse.
Kim McFadden, assistant registrar for data and data systems, (at left) and Stephanie Strandberg, records coordinator, show their heart hands during the UAF Military and Veterans Services registration event at the Wood Center in November 2023.

Nov 08

Donors raise more than $14,000 for the Student Support Fund, which provides aid when things go sideways.

From left, UAF esports team members Natalie Lutrell and Max Beiergrohslein join Vice Chancellor Owen Guthrie and Heath Day, GCI's education program senior manager, for a Mario Kart race during a block party event to celebrate upgrades at the Alaska Esports Center on Oct. 6, 2023. UAF photo by Leif Van Cise.

Nov 08

An upgraded internet connection and a new team center give UAF a competitive edge

Photo by Catherine West, courtesy of the Alutiiq Museum.
Don Clark looks for archaeological sites on Chirikof Island in 2005.

Nov 08

Don and Annette Clark left millions to UAF and other institutions.

Photo by Dirk Rohrbach.
During a Yukon River float trip in summer 2023, UAF climate scholars enjoy an evening fire at their campsite on a sandbar.

Oct 09

A unique program at UAF’s Honors College draws hundreds of undergraduates to study climate change — and do something about it.