Campus arctic research building named for Akasofu

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
12/12/06

The University of Alaska Board of Regents last week unanimously approved a proposal to name the building that houses the International Arctic Research Center in honor of the center’s founding director, Syun-Ichi Akasofu, who plans to retire in 2007.

Akasofu, who is widely recognized for his work in auroral studies and global climate change, has been a member of UAF’s research community for nearly 50 years, first as a doctoral student and later as a world-renowned scientist. He led UAF’s Geophysical Institute for more than a decade and was instrumental in IARC’s establishment as a cooperative research institute supported by both the U.S. and Japanese governments. Japanese partners funded nearly 60 percent of the capital costs of the building.

Under Akasofu’s leadership, IARC has grown to fulfill its mission as an international climate change research center and a focal point of excellence for collaboration.

"The building already stands as a legacy to his creative genius and international political acumen,"? said UAF Chancellor Steve Jones. "Our university is a much stronger international research and graduate institution in large measure because of Dr. Akasofu."?

Akasofu came to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1958 as a graduate student to study the aurora under Sydney Chapman, receiving his Ph.D. in 1961. He has been a professor of geophysics since 1964. Akasofu served as the director of UAF’s Geophysical Institute from 1986-1999 and helped to establish the Alaska Volcano Observatory and modernize the Poker Flat Research Range.

A naming ceremony will be scheduled in 2007.

CONTACT: Carla Browning, UAF public information officer, at (907) 474-7778 or via e-mail at carla.browning@uaf.edu. Kate Ripley, UA public affairs director, at (907) 450-8102 or via e-mail at kate.ripley@alaska.edu.