History of Engineering at UAF

The College of Engineering and Mines (CEM) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has been educating engineering students since 1922. Originally, it founded as the Alaska Agriculture College and School of Mines in 1917.

The William Elmhirst Duckering Building was built in 1964. The building has served as home to instructional and research programs in engineering. William Elmhirst Duckering earned a bachelors degree in 1903 and his civil engineering degree in 1916 from the University of Washington. Afterwards, he taught engineering classes and ended his career at the University of Alaska as dean.

In 2018, the Joseph E. Usibelli Engineering Learning and Innovation Building (JUB) opened its doors. The 120,000-square-foot building  offers cutting-edge labs and classroom facilities, and provides much-needed room for an engineering program that has doubled its enrollment since the mid-2000s. The building also features  a High Bay Structural Testing Lab with a reinforced floor that enables testing massive girders or simulate how bridges will stand up to earthquakes. On Aug. 4, 2022, the university named the building after Joseph E. Usibelli, a 1959 graduate who became president of Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy five years later. He served as president until 1987, when he turned over the position to his son. He remained as board chairman until his death in May 2022. Support from the Usibelli family and mine helped finish construction of the building. Usibelli also contributed to numerous other university initiatives.