The Emerging Leader Award is awarded awarded to an alumni who has made a significant impact in their industry or profession or contributed to the community and has strived to make a difference in the lives of others. The nominee must have received their degree within the past 10 years.

Nomination criteria

• Candidate has been awarded a degree from UAA (Associate, Bachelor, Masters or PhD) within the past 10 years.
• Candidate has demonstrated sustained excellence, accomplishment, and creativity in the sphere of their chosen profession or
• Candidate has demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of life in the community through work-related or volunteer involvements.
• Candidate has demonstrated qualities of leadership, integrity, dedication and motivation professionally in the community.
• Candidate has demonstrated qualities of teamwork and the willingness to share their own skills and expertise in the accomplishment of goals.
• Candidate has demonstrated qualities which would encourage others to view them as a role model.

Submit your nomination for the 2012 Alumni of Distinction Awards!

Previous Winners

2012

Candice McDonald, B.B.A. Business Management '05, M.S. Global Supply Chain Management '08, Owner, Salmon Berry Tours

Entrepreneurship is in the blood of the McDonald family. Candice McDonald’s father, Harry, owns Carlile Transportation Systems, and two of her three siblings also own their own business. Candice started Salmon Berry Tours, a travel tour business in Anchorage, in 2005 with one employee—herself. Now, she has eight seasonal employees and four full-time employees who stay on year-round. The business has shown substantial growth since its inception, including several partnerships in the business community that help give tourists the vacation they’re looking for, from Talkeetna to Seward to just about anywhere in Alaska.
Read Candice's full story at the Green & Gold

2011

Dan Bigley,M.S.W. '09, Director of Therapeutic Foster Care Services, Denali Family Services

A grizzly bear mauled Dan Bigley in the summer of 2003 on the shores of Alaska's Russian River and left him for dead. The odds were against him, but Dan survived, and after many surgeries and rehabilitative efforts he was able to pick up where he left off several years ago. With the support of UAA's Disability Support Services, Dan earned his M.S.W. in '09 from UAA with a 4.0 GPA. He now works with youth and families facing trauma, sexual abuse, substance abuse, behavioral disorders or mental illnesses. Dan is currently writing a book about the bear that nearly killed him and left him blinded. Read Dan's full story at greenandgold.uaa.alaska.edu

2010

Linda Leary, M.S. ’04, President, Carlile Transportation Systems

Linda Leary is the president of Carlile Transportation Systems, a company she’s been with since the mid-1980s. Founded in 1980, Carlile has grown from two tractors to one of Alaska's largest trucking companies. Today, Carlile's wholly owned terminals serve Alaska from Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Kodiak, Prudhoe Bay and Seward, as well as Seattle, WA, Houston, TX, Blaine, MN, and Edmonton, AB. Linda has a firm grip on the marketing side of Carlile, and has recently added several value-added aspects, such as logistics services for its customers, and additional shipping and forwarding service to Hawaii. She received her M.S. in Global Supply Chain Management from UAA in 2004.