Gifts at work

With help from donors, the College of Business and Security Management was able to:

• Host the 45th UAF Business Leader of the Year: This event celebrates leadership and provides students with valuable hands-on experience in budgeting, marketing, teamwork and project management.
• Coordinate the annual UAF Arctic Innovation Competition: This competition invites participants across Alaska and the United States to engage in creative problem-solving and showcase innovative ideas.
• Fund microawards for students: These one-time financial awards provide crucial support to students facing unexpected challenges, covering expenses that financial aid packages do not address or that students simply cannot afford.
• Host the Professionally Polished program: This program offers students interactive training in business etiquette and provides awards to help students acquire professional attire as they launch their careers.
• Support Native Alaskan Business Leaders: Donor funding enabled four students from the Native Alaskan Business Leaders student organization to compete in a national business plan competition in Las Vegas, where they secured first place.

Thanks to donor support, CEM celebrated the following achievements this past year:

• Degree conferrals: Conferred 63 B.S. degrees, 20 M.S. degrees and two Ph.D. degrees.
• Steel bridge team success: Our steel bridge team competed in the national finals in Louisiana, securing an impressive fourth place out of 47 high-ranking schools. The team also maintained its status as long-standing regional champions.
• Student opportunities: Engineers from across the college expanded their professional networks through various conferences. This included participation in Minexchange 2024, hosted by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration; the annual Society of Women Engineers conference, the world’s largest gathering for women in engineering and technology; and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ aerospace events, which provided valuable networking opportunities and career insights.
• Scholarship awards: Awarded dozens of scholarships across various disciplines, helping to expand our student pipeline.
• Technological advancements: Acquired an autonomous 3D construction printer for the Usibelli Building’s high bay, enhancing our focus on automation and robotics in construction.
• Women in Engineering initiative: Partnered with UAA to further our initiative led by industry leaders and alumni to increase women’s representation in engineering through outreach, scholarships and mentorship.
• NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge: Participated in this challenge, where students designed, built and tested full-scale prototypes of robotic excavation and transportation systems.
• Alaska Teaching Through Technology (T3) program: This innovative program was developed to bring engineering education to local schools and provide STEM exploration opportunities for the next generation.
• Engineers Week ice arch tradition: We continued our 50-plus-year tradition of creating and showcasing the CEM ice arch for Engineers Week.

These accomplishments highlight our commitment to advancing engineering education and fostering innovation in Alaska.

The generous contributions of donors provided support for our 94 undergraduate, 56 M.S., 15 M.M.P. and 41 Ph.D. students in AY 2023-2024. These included gifts, scholarships and fellowships, including:

• The Ted Stevens Distinguished Professorship of Marine Policy through the Pollock Conservation Cooperative. This professorship has offered CFOS the opportunity to conduct research and teach courses on several topics in fisheries, including economics of salmon aquaculture in Alaska and mathematics for fisheries economics, and contributed to the development of the new Master of Marine Policy degree.
• President’s Professor of Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystems.
• Frank and Marjorie Meek Chair in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
• Lowell A. Wakefield Chair in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
• Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center Fellowship Award. Recipients were Shelby Bacus, Sonia Kumar, Kevin Siwicke, James Crimp and Amber Perk.
• Tamamta Program Fellows through the Maxwell-Hanrahan Foundation.

Donor support from the past year has allowed the College of Liberal Arts to accomplish the following:

• Offer a wide array of scholarships to outstanding students — providing tuition and opportunities for purposeful experiences.
• Provide excellent students the opportunity to participate in the 10th annual presentation of the renowned Rancho Mirage Writers Festival.
• Support prestigious endowed positions for faculty in history (Arthur T. Fathauer Chair), music (Steve and Cynthia Holmberg Choral Director Chair) and journalism (C.W. Snedden Chair).
• Expand the breadth of our Circumpolar Music Series — showcasing artists, scholars, musicians and collaborations across the circumpolar regions — thanks to the Catherine Madsen Circumpolar Ethnomusicology Support Endowment.
• Grow our UAF jazz and brass programs and ensembles with support from the Bill Stroecker Jazz Endowment and Bill Stroecker Brass Scholarship.
• Provide six excellent students with the Helen Van Campen Journalism Scholarship.
• Continue partnering with the Fairbanks Symphony Association to offer courses, symphony performances, presentations and other excellent opportunities.

The UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics is experiencing significant demand for our programs. Through instruction and research, the work of our faculty, staff and students challenges boundaries and improves lives — within Alaska, the nation and the global community.

With help from donors, CNSM was recently able to:

• Provide funding to host Science Potpourri, CNSM's largest K-12 outreach event.
• Provide eight scholarships for children to attend UAF summer camps.
• Graduate 155 students, including 19 with doctorates.
• Provide 14 scholarships to geoscience undergrads to offset the cost of summer field courses.
• Send students from Alaska communities — including Point Lay, Atuqasak, Wainwright, Utqiagvik, Kaktovik, Tanana, Nulato, Kotzebue and Galena — to attend GeoFORCE Alaska, a four-year summer-based geoscience academy.
• Purchase computers for the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department.

CIS hosts the Rural Alaska Honors Institute in Fairbanks each summer. Donor support helped RAHI accomplish the following:

• 2024 marked RAHI’s 42nd year. The theme was Study, Eat, Sleep, Chill, Repeat.
• RAHI accepted 52 students, and, for the first time since 2017, all students completed the six-week program. The class graduated on July 11, 2024.
• This year’s cohort earned 485 credits (9.33 average) with an average GPA of 3.59. Thirty-eight students (73%) earned academic honors (3.5 GPA or higher).
• 17 students from the class of 2024 are now enrolled as either dual enrollment or full-time students at either UAA (4) or UAF (13) in fall 2024.
• The 2024 graduates came from 36 communities across the state, including Ambler, Anchor Point, Anchorage, Beaver, Bethel, Chevak, Cordova, Craig, Delta Junction, Fairbanks, Galena, Juneau, Kasigluk, Ketchikan, Kiana, Kodiak, Kotlik, Kwethluk, Mountain Village, Noatak, Noorvik, Nunapitchuk, Palmer, Petersburg, Port Alsworth, Quinhagak, Sand Point, Shishmaref, Sitka, St. Michael, Tanana, Teller, Tok, Unalakleet, Unalaska and Utqiagvik.
• 1,948 students have graduated from RAHI and have gone on to earn over 1,450 credentials ranging from certificates to Ph.D.s.

The College of Indigenous Studies is home to the Alaska Native Language Center. The center has resources and programs to help students build a solid foundation in Alaska Native languages, linguistics and cultural history. Thanks to donor support, the ANLC can continue to bolster, support and upkeep successful archives of Alaska Native languages. This year, the center has been able to offer two new Athabascan courses in response to language needs in our communities.

The College of Indigenous Studies is home to Rural Student Services, an incredibly important resource for students. In addition to advising support, RSS offers a variety of activities and programs designed to help rural and Alaska Native students exercise their cultural traditions on campus. RSS is a gathering place for students, a study area and a setting for events that celebrate UAF’s Alaska Native community.

The College of Indigenous Studies also holds UAF’s five rural campuses, serving Tok, Dillingham, Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue and all their surrounding areas. Donor support helps us to continue to offer academic programs designed to serve Indigenous communities and build a new generation of leaders. Our programs are grounded in Indigenous communities and the challenges they face, and we are committed to serving our communities, students and nation.

This past year, the UAF Community and Technical College has seen huge growth in demand for our programs due to the labor market. Our student body has increased drastically, and we are now educating approximately 3,000 students a year, preparing them for the workforce and supplying much- needed labor for Alaska. Industry partner donations continue to be a critical part of the success of UAF CTC programs and students.

With donor help, CTC graduated 110 first-generation students in spring 2024 in health care fields, paramedicine, fire science, business and accounting, early childhood education, tribal governance, rural human services, community health, construction management, information technology and cybersecurity, culinary arts, process technology, instrumentation, and safety and environmental awareness, as well as with Associate of Applied Science and Associate of Arts degrees in various fields.

In addition, CTC received the generous gifts noted below:

• College Utilities donated two Caterpillar generators to the diesel/heavy equipment program.
• An individual donated a 2010 Chevy Silverado truck to the diesel/heavy equipment program.
• Seekins Ford Lincoln Inc. donated a 2012 Ford Fiesta vehicle to the auto program.

The School of Education is committed to providing high-quality teacher preparation. Support for SOE positively impacts the learning of Alaska’s K-12 students and provides stipends to interns, helping students on their journey to earn teaching licenses. Support for SOE also goes toward providing scholarships to both undergraduate and graduate students.

This last year SOE was able to graduate 70 students in elementary, secondary, music and special education, as well as in school counseling and clinical mental health counseling.

The Geophysical Institute continues to be a leader in Arctic research. For more than 75 years, scientists at the GI have studied geophysical processes from the center of the Earth to the surface of the sun and beyond, turning data and observations into information useful for state, Arctic and national priorities. The GI is grateful for the donors who support our faculty and student research here at UAF!

IARC continues to strengthen its role as a collaborative leader in the Arctic, building on science, research and adaptation to environmental and political changes.

Some highlights from the past year include:

• Providing support for students with education costs.
• Leading another season of Inspiring Girls* Expeditions Alaska programs for high school-aged youths to remove barriers to access and increase participation and diversity in field sciences, art and outdoor recreation.
• Growth in the newly launched open online course Climate Change in Arctic Environments.
• Continuation of the Research Networking Activities for Coordinated Observations project to improve international coordination among Arctic observing networks.
• Turning science into music by working with a composer using data and math to produce a song that captures the “sound” of climate change.

The Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension has had a busy year educating and training Alaskans, as well as researching, in areas that include agriculture, health, Alaska ecosystems and much more. Support for IARNE has allowed for the following programs:

• Mat-Su Health Foundation funding allowed for a Cooperative Extension Service faculty member to attend a national conference where she gained knowledge to create curriculums in “AKAgrAbility-Arthritis and Gardening” and "AKAgrAbility-Adaptive Techniques for Gardening,” which have since been taught multiple times in the Mat-Su Valley.
• Donations to Alaska 4-H provided support for the Dillingham 4-H tribal extension educator to travel to Clarks Point, Togiak and New Stuyahok, as well as to purchase cultural supplies for youth activities, including soapstone carving kits, drum-making supplies, dance fan-making supplies, headdress supplies and owl pellets.
• AgWest provided funding for Alaska 4-H Youth in Governance participants to travel to Juneau, Alaska, and learn about Alaska’s governmental process. Ag West funds also allowed the institute to hire a science communicator, who has increased communication to Alaskans about the science happening at the institute.
• Donations to the Georgeson Botanical Garden contributed to salaries for critical staff, including a garden operations manager, a crew leader and seasonal garden maintenance staff. Donations also contributed to supplies and materials for special projects, infrastructure maintenance and plant materials.
• Industry partners at the Mining and Petroleum Training Service included Coeur Alaska's Kensington Mine, Hecla's Greens Creek Mine, Northern Star Resources' Pogo Mine, and Kinross Alaska's Manh Choh project. With their support, MAPTS will have successfully graduated 53 students in surface mine training, underground mine training and rural heavy equipment operator training.
• National 4-H Council provided funds to support educational programming throughout the state, including help with supply purchases, the travel of youth development professionals to attend training and the enrollment of low-income youths in positive youth development activities.

Toolik Field Station is a leading, year-round Arctic research, observation and education facility, providing insight to address local and global challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic. As the world’s largest Arctic research station, Toolik promotes a greater understanding of the Arctic by safely, sustainably and equitably fostering research and education in response to the needs of science and society. Thanks to donor support in 2023-2024, Toolik Field Station:

• Awarded four students and early career researchers with our TUNDRA award, which provides recipients with 10 days at the station to complete an independent project. Read more about the TUNDRA award on the award program’s website and learn more about this year’s awardees.
• Hosted a five-day artist residency with scientific illustrator Kristin Link to share Arctic research through the convergence of art and science.
• Traveled to Anaktuvuk Pass to conduct science outreach with elementary, middle and high school students at the Nunamiut School.

The Large Animal Research Station is a 130-acre facility that supports research, education and outreach related to some of Alaska’s most charismatic large animal species. LARS houses animals for a variety of research projects involving reproduction, nutrition, energetics and behavior.

Your donations help provide husbandry support for our muskoxen, reindeer and wood bison. Contributions to LARS also allow us to continue important community outreach activities, including the LARS Birthday Bash, Local's Day, Story Time and tours for K-12 groups.

Alaska Sea Grant continues to prioritize research, education and outreach, as well as protection and restoration of healthy coastal habitats and economies. Support for Alaska Sea Grant funded the following programs:

• Work has begun on five research projects competitively selected for Alaska Sea Grant funding over the next two years. More than $500,000 will support research involving ocean environmental changes, Pacific salmon in the Arctic, fish responses to environmental change, seaweed cultivation and sea otter-oyster farm interactions.
• Alaska Sea Grant hosted a three-day hands-on training workshop covering the fundamentals of commercial seaweed processing and handling. The workshop took place at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center. The workshop trained new and established workers and entrepreneurs in the seafood processing, mariculture and food production industries.
• Alaska Sea Grant and the Alaska Region of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s National Marine Fisheries Service developed online resources to guide applicants through the permitting process for establishing aquatic farms, including information on choosing a farm site.
• Research that investigates toxins in Arctic food webs and marine mammals and where and when harmful algal blooms may occur.
• A regional partnership that sparks collaboration to advance Indigenous aquaculture practices.
• Pacific Shellfish Institute assistance for Alaska shellfish growers to address emergency rainfall closures.
• A state-of-the-art seafood research and development facility, the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, which helps discover better methods to harvest and preserve Alaska seafood.
• The Fisheries Symposium, which is a conference series that brings together international experts to address the management and utilization of Alaska’s marine resources, done in memory of Lowell Wakefield.
• The Alaska Young Fisherman’s Summit, which helps aspiring commercial fishermen learn the trade and connect with industry leaders. Over 500 Alaskans from 60 communities have been trained through this program.

The UAF General Support Fund is one of the university's most important funds. It gives us the flexibility to support campus events, projects that require a little extra funding and students who need help pursuing their education.

In December 2023, UAF achieved a significant milestone, reaching 35% design completion. This stage delineated spaces within the three-story, 40,000-square-foot facility, designed with Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy and artistic inspiration at its core.

In February 2024, the University of Alaska Board of Regents unanimously approved the schematic design for the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center, enabling UAF to proceed with the project. Regents endorsed $9 million in expenditures, which will allow UAF to finalize the facility’s design and begin site preparation this year. Concurrently, UAF will continue actively fundraising toward the $53 million dollar project cost of the facility.

When complete, the Indigenous Studies Center will serve as a central Alaska Native gathering place, with classes, services and activities as a breathtaking tribute that affirms Alaska Native culture and contributions across Alaska. The building will house the College of Indigenous Studies programs including: Alaska Native Language Center, Rural Alaska Honors Institute, Rural Student Services, Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, Center for OneHealth Research, Department of Tribal Governance, Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development. The state-of-the-art research, learning and cultural activities facility will include a teaching kitchen and an outdoor interpretive park honoring Alaska Native people.

The Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center team is grateful for the donors who are helping turn this vision into actuality.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is a program under Summer Sessions & Lifelong Learning dedicated to offering social and educational opportunities to adults aged 50 or older in the Fairbanks and surrounding areas. Our program and the courses we offer would not have been possible without your support!

With your donations this year, we were able to accomplish the following:

• Support 1.75 office staff to plan, organize and implement program courses and events.
• Offer 198 engaging courses in various accessible formats (in-person, online and hybrid).
• Partner with the Osher Foundation to offer an additional selection of online courses.
• Recruit 130 volunteer instructors and give them the space and materials needed to share their expertise or stories with students.
• Provide opportunities for continued learning and social engagement to 536 older adults across Alaska.

The North Campus UAF trail system is an amazing community resource that provides space for organizations to host races, tournaments and more. The 1,100 acres also allow for valuable research, education and recreation opportunities for UAF faculty, staff students, visiting educators and scientists, and community members. Support for the UAF trails system this past year has allowed for the maintenance of all 26 miles, which includes groomed and ungroomed ski trails, walking trails and commuter trails.

Continued support will go toward updating the trail wayfinding and signage improvements. It also has allowed collaboration on a new interpretative trail developed through the Alaska Fire Science Consortium.