Dr. David Koester

Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus

WHEREAS Dr. David Koester has served the University of Alaska Fairbanks with distinction in teaching, research and public service from 1999 to 2021; and

WHEREAS Dr. Koester is a highly respected teacher and advisor who has shared his encyclopedic expertise in anthropology without reservation; and he has recruited students nationally and internationally; and he reshaped the anthropology curriculum to meet his standards of excellence; and

WHEREAS Dr. Koester, a prolific, multilingual scholar of circumpolar peoples from Iceland to the Russian Far East, has produced dozens of articles, presentations, papers and reports, as well as a film; and he has been a leader in numerous research projects, the most enduring of which brought him to Russia’s Kamchatka on fifteen field trips since 1996 to work with Itelmen communities; and he recently assisted in completing a dictionary of the endangered Itelmen language; and

WHEREAS Dr. Koester served as chair of the Anthropology Department and, in that capacity, worked to bring the undergraduate and graduate degree programs to international prominence; and

WHEREAS the film Dr. Koester co-produced, “Itelmen Stories,” won the grand prize at the International Festival of Ethnological Film in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2011;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the University of Alaska Fairbanks expresses its deep appreciation for Dr. David Koester’s extensive contributions to the State of Alaska and to the University; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Alaska Fairbanks, in further recognition of the invaluable services rendered by Dr. Koester and as evidence of the University’s desire that his identification with the University be maintained, hereby salutes the recognition of Dr. David Koester as Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be appropriately engrossed and signed by the Chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks as further evidence of the esteem and respect in which he holds Dr. David Koester, and conveyed to Dr. Koester on this first day of May, 2021.