Bullock prize goes to longtime educator
July 21, 2014
Dana Thomas, University of Alaska System vice president for academic affairs and research
and a 30-plus year statistics faculty member at UA Fairbanks, has been selected as
the 2014 recipient of the Edith R. Bullock Prize.
The Bullock prize is the highest annual award presented by the University of Alaska
Foundation Board of Trustees. It includes a cash grant.
“Dana’s reputation for collaboration has earned him respect and admiration both inside
and outside the university. His leadership in the area of improving service to students
has been extraordinary,” said foundation Chair Susan Anderson of Anchorage. “Dana’s
many years of above-and-beyond dedication to the University of Alaska make him a deserving
candidate for this award. Ms. Bullock would have undoubtedly admired him.”
Born and raised in Fairbanks and an alumnus of the UAF biology program, Thomas returned
home to develop a statistics program at UAF in 1981 after completing his graduate
work in Oregon.
He served six years as chair of UAF's Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He
received the Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005. While on faculty
at UAF, he arranged U.S. Agency for International Development contracts to work two
years in the Republic of Yemen facilitating a national survey of agriculture and two
years in the Sultanate of Oman, improving fisheries statistics operations there.
From 2006 to 2012, Thomas served as UAF's vice provost and accreditation liaison officer,
and he has served as an institutional accreditation evaluator of other institutions
for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
While serving in his current role as the chief academic officer for the UA System,
Thomas has provided invaluable leadership in UA’s “Shaping Alaska’s Future” initiative,
a long-term effort initiated by President Pat Gamble to strengthen UA’s culture of
excellence, continuous improvement and innovation.
"Dr. Thomas’s overarching goal as an administrator is to promote the success of students,
within the fundamental principle that students are successful only if they attain
a high standard of academic accomplishment,” said Susan Henrichs, UAF provost and
executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Thomas’s dedication to student success has brought about many positive changes. While
at UAF, he worked with faculty and Fairbanks North Star Borough high school teachers
to better align high school and college courses to prepare high school students for
university placement tests. He implemented programs to help with the transition time
after a student enters college — from freshmen seminars to advising. Thomas was instrumental
in the development of a program to identify at-risk freshmen during the third week
of each fall and spring semester. Under his guidance, the TRiO program for first-generation,
low-income and disabled students achieved better graduation rates for this disadvantaged
group than is found for baccalaureate-seeking students as a whole.
The Bullock award was established through a generous gift from the late Edith R. Bullock,
who served the university for 30 years as a member of the University of Alaska Board
of Regents and the foundation trustees. The University of Alaska Foundation, a nonprofit
501(c) (3), raises, invests and manages privately donated funds for the sole benefit
of the University of Alaska. Nominations for the Bullock award are due annually on
Dec. 1.