ACEP welcomes Deputy Director Ken Papp
Ken Papp joined ACEP as its deputy director.
May 02, 2024
By Yuri Bult-Ito
Ken Papp joined ACEP in April as its new deputy director. He will assist Director Jeremy Kasper and the leadership team in managing researchers and staff and in overseeing the progress of programs, projects and their related budgets.
Papp expects applied energy research to play a major role in Alaska’s future.
“It is a very tangible effort to sustainably benefit all Alaskans, particularly those living in the remote regions of our state,” he said.
Papp envisions ACEP taking advantage of new, strategic partnerships at the community, state and federal levels to successfully achieve its goals.
“We should all strive to learn from others’ mistakes and successes, while continuing to discover unique energy solutions specific to our state and northern latitude,” he said.
Prior to joining ACEP, Papp served the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, or DGGS, as the operations manager for nine years, managing an annual budget of $30 million. Having been to Washington, D.C., many times as the liaison for the state geological survey regarding how Alaska benefits from national geologic programs, Papp is looking forward to representing ACEP and advocating for additional resources and coalition efforts, focusing on unique energy issues that Alaska faces.
Papp received his B.S. in geology from the University of Cincinnati and M.S. in volcanology and remote sensing from UAF. He has worked for the state of Alaska for nearly 20 years in different roles — as a geologist with DGGS in Fairbanks, project manager at the Alaska Energy Authority in Anchorage, and the curator of the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Geologic Materials Center in Anchorage, before returning to DGGS in Fairbanks as the division’s operations manager.
At ACEP, Papp looks forward to learning something new every day, while using his experience and skills to help ACEP better achieve its mission.
Papp enjoys finding solutions to problems and helping coach others to be successful in what they do and want to accomplish. He hopes to apply his knack for quickly recognizing the strengths of individuals within a team and uniting these strengths to make the group stronger and more successful to help ACEP grow as an organization.
Outside of work, Papp enjoys spending time with his family, playing soccer and drumming. He can be found dancing and singing on weekend mornings in the kitchen to Madonna’s Immaculate Collection while making homemade pancakes with his young sons. Papp’s Achilles’ heel includes chocolate and peanut butter.