UAF to honor Warwick as business leader
April 14, 2015
907-474-5942
4/14/2015
The University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Management will honor Andy Warwick as its 39th business leader of the year during a sold-out dinner and award ceremony April 17 at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel Gold Room.
Warwick, a 1966 graduate of the UAF School of Management, has demonstrated leadership at both local and statewide levels in both public and private sector responsibilities. Warwick has worked as a certified public accountant since 1978. A short time later, he and his business partner, Rick Schikora, established Warwick and Schikora, CPAs.
“Being chosen business leader of the year is a very humbling experience, particularly because of the qualities and capabilities of those who have preceded me,” Warwick said. “I think I’ve done a good job of setting an example of combining family, public service and professionalism and hope to pass that on to current UAF students.”
While running a business and raising a family, Warwick found time to serve his community. He served as a state legislator and as administration commissioner under Gov. Jay Hammond. In addition, he spent nine years on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Education, two years on the Alaska State Board of Education and six years as chairman of the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority.
Warwick’s leadership skills were instrumental in creation of Fairbanks Sewer and Water, a company formed in 1995 to privatize the Fairbanks water and sewer utilities. He remains chairman of the company's board. Warwick has been a member of the Doyon Utilities LLC management committee since the company's inception in 2005.
Warwick's grandparents arrived in Fairbanks on a sternwheeler in September 1906. His mother was born in Fairbanks in 1915. Warwick was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1943. During the 1940s, his family mined gold at Livengood and made lifelong friendships with the Dodsons, Roberts, Hefflingers, Parkers and Lindstroms, who are still close to this day.
Warwick’s family enjoys a tradition rich with UAF history. His mother, Emma Miller, graduated from UAF in 1938 with a bachelor’s degree in business, and his daughter, Sydney, received her bachelor's degree in business administration in 1999.
Warwick's enthusiasm for playing outdoors and working with dogs, combined with a competitive spirit, make skijoring one of his passions in life. The year he turned 70, he represented the United States in the International Federation of Sleddog Sports 2013 World Championships.
Warwick and his wife of 45 years, Judy, have seven dogs. The most recent arrival, Freddie, was rescued, like most members of their four-legged family, from the borough's animal shelter. The Warwicks are advocates of the Fairbanks Animal Shelter Fund, for which Freddie serves as mascot.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Tammy Tragis-McCook, 907-474-7042
ON THE WEB: www.uaf.edu/som
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