June 6, 2016

UAF Interim Chancellor Candidate Announced

June 6, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FAIRBANKS – After a review of nearly a dozen applications, University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen said today he would submit the name of Dr. Dana L. Thomas as University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Interim Chancellor to the Fairbanks community for comment/feedback and for consultation with UAF governance before making a final decision June 30.

If appointed, Dr. Thomas, the former vice president of academic affairs and research, would lead the university’s 3,400 faculty/staff and 9,800 students for the next 12 months, succeeding Interim Chancellor Mike Powers who steps down August 1.

“Of the many great candidates who stepped forward and offered their expertise and energy to lead UAF during the next year, there was one person whose qualifications, reputation and experience stood out from all others and that person is Dana Thomas,” Johnsen said.

In his May message to the university community, Johnsen pledged to involve the Fairbanks and UAF community in the selection process. A public forum is planned for June 16 on the UAF campus, and a feedback form can be found at http:/www.alaska.edu/pres/uaf-interim-chancellor-se/.

As interim chancellor, Thomas would lead UAF through its continued evolution as the premier Arctic research university, the continued commitment to campus safety, efforts to complete the UAF engineering building, and the celebration of UAF’s 100th anniversary in 2017.

Thomas was born and raised in Fairbanks, is an alum of UAF and was the statewide vice president of academic affairs and research from 2012 to 2014. He served six years as Chair of UAF's Department of Mathematics and Statistics.  In 2005, Dr. Thomas received the Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching Award for sustained excellence in teaching at UAF. From 2006 to 2012, Dr. Thomas served as UAF's Vice Provost and Accreditation Liaison
Officer. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities asked him to serve as an institutional accreditation evaluator of other institutions. In addition to his distinguished career in teaching, Dr. Thomas is recognized for his interdisciplinary research on the design and analysis of studies assessing resource (food and habitat) selection by animals. His career also features contributions at the international level, including work for two years in the Republic of Yemen facilitating a national survey of agriculture and two years in the Sultanate of Oman improving their fisheries statistics operations.

Thomas’ letter of application and full CV can be found at http://www.alaska.edu/pres/uaf-interim-chancellor-se/.

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For more information contact Roberta Graham, associate vice president of
public affairs at 907-360-2416 (cell).

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