Summer 2024
From the chancellor
Friends of 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø,
On May 4, 2024, the Carlson Center was filled with almost 4,000 people celebrating 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Commencement. Students, faculty, staff, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunties filled the seats of the Carlson to watch the 2024 graduates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. Though the students walk across the stage alone, we all know that the achievement of a degree is not an individual endeavor. The faculty, staff, friends, family and supporters at commencement and watching the livestream are all part of what it takes for a student to be successful and achieve their degree. And, so are you! The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø community of alumni and donors makes the student experience at 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø possible. I hope that many of you were able to attend commencement and witness the culmination of your contributions come together in a day of celebration.
On the topic of celebration, I am proud to share that 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø celebrated another amazing 49 hours of giving this year. In my last message, I asked our alumni to get involved, and you showed up. This year, 449 alumni gave during the 2024 Giving Day. Overall there was a 25% increase in donors. My personal Giving Day challenge went to the fund that received the highest number of individual alumni donations. Thank you to the 58 alumni who gave to Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center. And thank you to all of the alumni who demonstrated their connection to 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø and commitment to our university’s future.
Though there are fewer students on campus over the summer, 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø will be just as busy as ever in the coming months. Students from across the state will come to Fairbanks to participate in summer camps, community members will gather for events like Music in the Garden, and research will carry on in Fairbanks and field sites across the state. I hope to see many of you at the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Nanook Rendezvous later this summer or at other events in the community.
Thanks for choosing 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø.
Dan White
Chancellor
Recent benefactor highlights
Businesses, corporations, individuals and foundations give generously to 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø. This report reflects gifts and donations totaling $25,000 or more to the University of Alaska Fairbanks between Feb. 1 and April 30, 2024.
BUSINESS AND CORPORATE
Arctic Slope Regional Corporation gave to the GeoFORCE Alaska Support Fund.
ConocoPhillips Alaska gave to the GeoFORCE Alaska Support Fund and Rural Alaska Honors Institute.
Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company gave to the Mining and Petroleum Training Service Support Fund.
Hilcorp Alaska gave to the Hilcorp Arctic Fisheries Support Fund.
Kinross Alaska gave to the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø First Gen Support Fund and CBSM Arctic Innovation Competition Support Fund, and it became the presenting sponsor for the 2024 Blue and Gold Celebration.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration gave to the Alaska Space Grant Program Support Fund.
Usibelli Coal Mine established the Usibelli Coal Mine 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Ski Trail Development Fund.
INDIVIDUAL
William ’73 and Andrea Benitz gave to the Jack Distad Memorial Scholarship.
Mark Chapin ’06 established the Mark W. Chapin Music, Art, and Theatre Endowed Scholarship.
Charles and Susan Dunn gave to the David Burnett Dunn Memorial Endowment.
Nancy L. Eliason gave to the Nancy L. Hastings Eliason Beringian Research Endowment.
Harold F. John* gave to the Ornithology Endowment.
Sarah and Cary Keller established the Nanook Men’s Hockey Endowed Scholarship.
FOUNDATION AND ASSOCIATION
An anonymous donor gave to the Charles C. Georgeson Botanical Garden.
Richard L. and Diane M. Block Foundation gave to the Friends of Museum Exhibits Fund.
Bill Stroecker Foundation gave to the Bill Stroecker Accounting Scholarship and the Bill Stroecker Brass Scholarship.
51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Hockey Alumni Association gave to 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Hockey Alumni Association Scholarship for Men's Nanook Hockey and the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Alumni Association Hockey Chapter Support for Men's Nanook Hockey Fund.
*indicates deceased