Dedicated Donors - Joe & Barbara Beedle
The UAF School of Management Alumni Endowment launched this fall with a gift from
Joe and Barbara Beedle, which was matched 2:1 by Northrim Bank for a total of $75,000
in honor of Joe’s recent retirement from the bank.
Joe credits a great deal of his leadership skills to lessons learned and connections
made while he was a student at SOM, and through his multiple links to UA Statewide
and UAF.
Joe was a member of the Student Investment Fund during its formative years, and in
his senior year received the Joel Weigert Award for ranking highest in character,
personality, and extra-curricular activities. Before graduating with his BBA in finance
in 1975, Joe was hired by Marc Langland, the 1982 UAF Business Leader of the Year
recipient and founder of Northrim Bank. Joe went on to lead an illustrious career,
with his most recent positions as VP of finance for the UA Statewide system, treasurer
of the UA Foundation, and president/CEO of Northrim Bank.
Joe and his wife Barbara met in 1968 at Juneau-Douglas High School and have been together
in some way for 49 years! Originally from Kansas, Barbara’s parents moved to Alaska
so her father could work as an Episcopalian mission priest and medical doctor. The
Beedles married at the tender age of 20 while Joe was a sophomore at UAF. Living in
married student housing, they shared duties as resident advisors until graduation.
Barbara worked for accounting firms in Ketchikan, Fairbanks (Cook & Haugeberg), and
Anchorage while helping to raise their two children – Marie, a Providence Hospital
nurse in Portland, and Joe Jr., a CPA CFO for VA hospitals in Seattle.
What does retirement look like for the Beedles? They look forward to spending time
with their five grandchildren, traveling and driving their motorhome throughout Alaska
and the Lower 48. They also plan to spend more time at the family cabins outside of
Juneau near Glacier Bay. Joe and Barbara expect to remain engaged in public issues,
supporting a strong private sector economy and responsible resource extraction and
development. Their Alaska home will remain their primary residence no matter where
they travel and visit.
They feel strongly that UAF provided them with a superior education, which enabled
and empowered them to succeed in professional business careers. They have always believed
that SOM was instrumental in preparing them for such fulfilling careers, and they
made this contribution to provide similar opportunities for future generations.
The Beedles hope to inspire other alumni, businesses, and friends to reflect upon
their educational experience and their connections to SOM. They ask you to consider
contributing to this empowering and flexible unrestricted SOM endowment. Private gifts
are vital at this time of constrained state resources, with greater reliance upon
individual, private sector, philanthropic, and student-increased contributions.
Join the Beedles in supporting SOM by clicking the Give To SOM button and select the
UAF School of Management Alumni Endowment.
“I am proud of SOM and wish to help by contributing; I am also very honored that my
employer is making a donation in recognition of my retirement.” – Joe Beedle
Joe has served on numerous boards and volunteered for countless organizations. This
is a list of just some of his university connections.
- UAF William R. Cashen Alumni Service Award
- UAF Alumni Association Board
- UA Foundation Board of Trustees
- UAF Chancellor’s Advisory Board
- UAF SOM Business Advisory Council
- UAF Student Investment Fund Advisory Board