The Humanitarian Award is awarded to an alumni who has contributed to their community and who has strived to make a difference in the life of others. This could be through voluntary service or their profession.

Nomination criteria

• Candidate has been awarded a degree from UAA (Associate, Bachelor, Masters or PhD).
• 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

2011

Joan Fisher, M.B.A. '99, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center

Since earning her M.B.A. from UAA in '99, Joan served as the executive director of Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center (ANHC). Joan, who recently took on the new role of director of strategic initiatives, has been instrumental in raising funds to build a new $28.3M health center in Anchorage--set to open in summer 2012--that will more than double ANHC's capacity to serve the city's health care needs.

2010

Gloria O’Neill, B.A. ’96, President/CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council

Gloria O’Neill is president and CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), a position she has held since 1998. Under her leadership, CITC’s budget has increased from $8M to $46M, and its staff has expanded from 70 to 300 employees. Today, CITC provides social, educational and employment services to 12,000 Alaska Natives and Native Americans annually, and is widely recognized for its innovative and effective approaches. Beyond her work at CITC, O’Neill has made significant contributions locally, regionally and nationally. She currently serves as Chair of the Anchorage Museum Association Board of Directors, and is a board member of the Anchorage Community Land Trust, Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Chanlyut Inc. and Alaska Federation of Natives. O'Neill is originally from Soldotna, Alaska and is of Yupik and Irish descent. She graduated from UAA in 1996 with a B.A. in Sociology, and a minor in Business Administration, and later earned an MBA from Alaska Pacific University.