UAF appoints two to endowed chair positions

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: 907-474-7902
10/15/07

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has appointed veteran educators to fill two of its endowed faculty chair positions for the first time.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian Joel Shurkin will serve as the Charles W. Snedden Chair in Journalism for the 2007 - 2008 academic year. Longtime UAF faculty member Mary Mangusso will serve as the Arthur T. Fathauer Chair in History for three years. An endowed faculty chair requires a donation to the university exceeding $2 million.

"Endowed chairs at the University of Alaska Fairbanks speak passionately and clearly about the commitment our supporters have for higher education," said Judyth Wier, associate vice chancellor for development at UAF.

Helen Snedden established the Snedden Chair in 2003 in memory of her late husband, the former publisher and owner of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Since its establishment, the chair has allowed the UAF journalism department to bring a series of nationally known journalists to Fairbanks to speak to students, local journalists and the public.

Shurkin is a journalist, science writer and historian. He and his colleagues at the Philadelphia Inquirer received the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for their coverage of Three-Mile Island. He is the author of multiple books and is a science writer emeritus at Stanford University.

The late Helen Ann Fathauer established the Fathauer Chair in 2000 in honor of her late husband, who studied history at the University of Chicago. The Fathauers’ son, Ted Fathauer, is a University of Alaska Foundation trustee and lead forecaster for the Fairbanks National Weather Service office.

Mangusso has been teaching at UAF since 1974. Since 1998, she has served as an affiliated associate professor of history. She is co-editor of "An Alaska Anthology: Interpreting the Past," has served two terms on the Alaska Historical Commission and is a member of the board of editors for "Alaska History," the Alaska Historical Society’s journal.

CONTACT: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian.grimes@uaf.edu. Judyth Wier, associate vice chancellor, at 907-474-5750 or via e-mail at j.wier@uaf.edu.