Speaker to discuss history of Alaska's statehood

April 5, 2016

Andrea Miller

Dick Randolph will present a lecture about the history of Alaska's statehood called "Freedom is the Prize; Responsibility is the Price" on Wednesday, April 6, in Schaible Auditorium. He will give presentations at 10:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. and take questions after each.

Richard L. “Dick” Randolph is a longtime insurance agency owner in Fairbanks, Alaska, who is best known as the first person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party with his election to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1978. He was re-elected in 1980. He was instrumental in repealing the state income tax and saving the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend, through effective use of the initiative process. He was also the Libertarian Party’s gubernatorial nominee in 1982, garnering nearly 15 percent of the vote.

Randolph was born in Salmon, Idaho, and graduated from Idaho State College in 1960 with a B.A. in education. He moved to Alaska that same year to teach school, spending several years in Valdez and South Naknek. He moved to Fairbanks in 1964 and founded a State Farm Insurance agency, becoming its top sales agent in the nation in 1965. He also served as the state president and national vice president for the Jaycees before entering politics.

These free events are sponsored by the student organization Students Who Enjoy Economic Thinking.

For more information, contact Sherri Wall, economics instructor in the School of Management and SWEET’s faculty advisor, at 907-474-6526 or slwall@alaska.edu.