Archive

Earlier this year, Megan Eilers, a health occupations teacher at Hutchison High School in Fairbanks, was named a 2023-24 Milken Educator Award recipient, an honor considered to be the “Oscars of teaching.”

Mechanical engineering alumnus Lawrence Giron Jr. returns from two NASA internships to contribute research on atmospheric corrosion prediction.

Real estate alumna and 2023-24 Alumni of Achievement A. Janelle Pfleiger is a 45-year real estate agent and former national president of the Residential Real Estate Council. Understanding the enormity of purchasing a new home, Pfleiger works to make sure real estate agents guiding clients through the homebuying process are beholden to the highest code of ethics.

Social work alumna and 2023-24 Alumni Humanitarian Celeste Hodge Growden is the president and CEO of the Alaska Black Caucus. By focusing on the four core areas of justice, education, economics and health, Growden works toward enacting racial equity through the process of institutional reform.

Political science alumna and 2023-24 Alumni Emerging Leader Amie Collins is the executive director of Best Beginnings. Growing up an avid reader, Collins works to pass on that passion to future generations of children and parents by developing early literacy and education initiatives.

UAA student Tayler Higgins is one of five young adults named to the 2024 Champions of Change cohort with the Center for Native American Youth. Tayler is passionate about centering and elevating Arctic Indigenous youth voices and the interaction of climate, social and economic justice work. She hopes to use her role as a champion to bring more opportunities back to her community.

On Wednesday, Dec. 13, the University of Alaska Anchorage honored individuals with the Meritorious Service Award and Honorary Degree during a special ceremony in advance of fall commencement.

Describing herself as always having been a helper, fall 2023 graduate student commencement speaker Cass Pook was inspired to return to school by her mother and her social worker sister, who passed away in 2011. With her Master of Social Work, she will continue serving her community through her ongoing work with the State of Alaska Department of Family and Community Services.

In this episode of Seawolf Voices, professional piloting alumnus and professional Santa Claus Dan Bale talks about his childhood watching planes take off from the New Orleans airport runway, why you need a strong poker face when playing with children, and recounts a lovely Christmas story that perfectly encapsulates his roles as a pilot and as Santa.

For Bay Alabdulbaqi, student commencement speaker for UAA's fall Class of 2023, college has been a journey of discovery and transformation. She sees the speaker opportunity as a way to "express gratitude and be a mentor for other students" — the perfect culmination for her undergraduate experience.