Chancellor's Biography

Chancellor Sean Parnell

University of Alaska Anchorage

Former Alaska Governor Sean Parnell began his role as chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage on June 12, 2021, succeeding interim chancellor Bruce Schultz.

Most recently an attorney in the Anchorage office of Holland & Hart LLP,  Sean Parnell has 25 years in the active practice of law. He was elected to two terms in the Alaska House of Representatives, serving there from 1992 until 1996 when he was elected to the Alaska Senate (1996-2000). In 2006, he was elected Lieutenant Governor and served as Governor of Alaska from 2009 to 2014.

Parnell graduated from East Anchorage High School in 1980, earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1984 from Pacific Lutheran University and a J.D. degree in 1987 from the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now known as Seattle University School of Law).