Ervin, Loewer honored with UAF student awards

May 12, 2020

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has awarded Bruce Ervin and Heike Loewer with outstanding student honors for the class of 2020.

Ervin, from Northway, received the Marion Frances Boswell Memorial Award, which recognizes an outstanding bachelor’s degree candidate. Loewer, who lives in Germany, received the Joel Wiegert Award, which recognizes an outstanding associate degree candidate.

Ervin, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Alaska Native studies, is dedicated to using education to preserve his Athabascan culture. He enjoys learning traditional Native skills while fishing, hunting and gathering, and is a member of the Upper Tanana Language Circle. Ervin has also been an advocate for Alaska Native subsistence rights at the state and federal levels.

Polly Hyslop, a UAF indigenous studies assistant professor, described Ervin as humble, kind and passionate about traditional Native ways of knowing. Hyslop, who is also from Ervin’s hometown of Northway, said those traits have made him a community leader.

“Bruce is a role model for many young men from our village who may want to venture into college but do not know if they will succeed,” she wrote in her nomination letter. “He is our success story and we are proud of him.”

Loewer took an unusual path to her degree in early childhood education. She not only is the first international graduate of the program but also took all her courses while living in Germany. Loewer, who had previously earned an engineering degree, continued to work full-time at her own child care business while taking online classes at UAF.

UAF professor Patricia Meritt said Loewer, who earned a 3.9 grade-point average, wasn’t just an excellent student. Meritt credited her with shaping the early childhood education program, which had recently shifted entirely to online delivery.

“Her consistent participation and extensive, forthright and constructive feedback were instrumental in helping us to revise and improve our delivery in this new modality,” Meritt wrote in her nomination letter. “She probably does not even realize how much we paid attention to her suggestions, but we did.”

UAF will honor students in the class of 2020 at a virtual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 23, at 1 p.m. More information about commencement is available at www.uaf.edu/commence.