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| The geographic area that would become UAA, circa 1950. |
1950 – Dr. Terris Moore, president of the University of Alaska (UA), and Regents Elmer Rasmuson and Earl Albrecht worked to expand the University from Fairbanks campus by bringing courses to military bases and developing community colleges in partnership with local school districts.
1950 – University of Alaska begins offering courses on Southcentral military bases.
1953 – Territorial Community College Act establishes a framework for cooperation between school districts and the University of Alaska.
1954 – The first community colleges are formed at Anchorage and Ketchikan.
1954 – Anchorage Community College (ACC), a joint venture of the Anchorage Independent School District and the University of Alaska, opens the second floor of what is now West High School. It offers primarily academic and business related courses. 385 students enrolled in the first semester. LeVake Renshaw, local consulting engineer, was the first student to enroll, and went on to earn a degree from UAF.
1954 – Dr. LeRoy Good named the first ACC Director.
1956 – First graduation from ACC. One graduate, Vincent Earl Demarest, receives an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration
1957 – Melvin Huden named ACC Director
1958 – Palmer Community College founded
1958 – Founding of the first student newspaper, the Campus Courier.
1959 – Alaska enters the Union as the 49th state.
1959 – Eugene Short named ACC chief executive officer.
1960 – The population of Anchorage is 82,833
1960 – William R. Wood named University of Alaska president. He played a strong role in the expansion of UA into Anchorage.
1961 – UA offers graduate courses in Anchorage leading to Masters in Education and Masters of Science in Engineering degrees – the first graduate programs in Southcentral Alaska.
1961 – The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) opens as the first public policy research center in Alaska.
1962 – Alaska legislature incorporates the state's community colleges into the University of Alaska higher education system
1964 – Kenai Peninsula Community College founded
1964 – Palmer Community College renamed Matanuska-Susitna Community College
1964 – Good Friday earthquake rocks Southcentral Alaska
1966 – The Anchorage Regional Center (ARC) is established to consolidate public higher education programs in the Anchorage area, including ACC and courses offered at local military bases.
1966 – Dr. Donald DaFoe, formerly superintendent of schools in Anchorage, named first provost of the ARC.
1968 – Kodiak Community College founded
1968 – Anchorage Regional Center expands to become Southcentral Regional Center administering community colleges, military education, upper division and graduate programs for the entire region. This institution foreshadowed the current structure of UAA.
1968 – Construction begins near Goose Lake on the outskirts of Anchorage for a permanent campus for ACC.
1969 – Dr. Lewis Haines named provost of Southcentral Regional Center.
1969-71 – Formation of Anchorage Higher Education Consortium between Alaska Methodist University (now Alaska Pacific University) and UA, allowing for ease of transfer credit and sharing of library resources.
1970 – The population of Anchorage is 126,385
1970 – ACC dedicates its present campus on Providence Ave. and moves from West High School into the five new buildings later named in honor of Eugene Short, Beatrice McDonald, Lucy Cuddy, Gordon Hartlieb and Sally Monserud.
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| Registration at West High, 1968. |
1971 – The Anchorage Senior College is created from existing upper-division and graduate courses and programs.
1971 – First joint (ACC and Senior College) commencement ceremony at West High School. A total of 265 masters, baccalaureate, and associates degrees and certificates are awarded.
1970 – University of Alaska, Anchorage is formed in November, composed of ACC and Anchorage Senior College
1972 – Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies is created to address the social, physical, and psychological concerns of alcoholism.
1972 – ACC independently accredited as Anchorage Community College
1972 – Construction begins on Consortium Library to be shared by Alaska Methodist University and the UA,A
1973 – University enters into first collective bargaining agreement with Local 2404, Alaska Community College Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
1973 – Building K (now professional Studies Building) and Building J (now the Auto/Diesel Technology Building) open on West Campus
1973 – Consortium Library opens
1974 – ACCFT faculty declare a (brief) strike for increased compensation
1974 – Senior College Building (now Social Sciences Building) opens
1975 – University of Alaska, Anchorage receives accreditation from Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges
1975 – UA,A Performing Arts Center (now Wendy Williamson Auditorium) sees its first performance
1976 – The Justice Center is created to provide research and instruction in justice and crime issues in Alaska.
1976 – Dr. William Stewart named ACC Campus President
1976 – Provost position at UA,A replaced with a chancellor — chief administrative officer and academic leader in charge of all university activities, research and academics.
Dr. Wendell Wolfe named Acting UA,A Chancellor
1976 – Dr. John Lindauer named first chancellor of UA,A
1977 – Science Building opens
1977 – Formation of the Community Colleges and Rural Education Extension (CCREE), a statewide organization devoted to the community college mission. ACC is separated from UA,A and included in CCREE as its largest unit. UA,A is composed of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Justice Center, and the Schools of Education, Engineering, Nursing, Business, and Public Administration.
1978 – First higher education classes offered in Eagle River
1978 – Wendell W. Wolfe, named acting UA,A Chancellor
1978 – First Great Alaska Shootout is held in the Buckner Fieldhouse on Fort Richardson
1978 – Dr. Frank Harrison named Chancellor at UA,A
1978 – Prince William Sound Community College established in Valdez.
1978 – Campus Center complex (including the Student Union and Wells Fargo Sports Center) opens
1979 – Dr. Edward Biggerstaff named ACC Campus President
1979 – North Slope oil money begins to flow into Alaska’s treasury, allowing for expansion of higher education opportunities across the state.
1979 – Mining and Petroleum Training Services (MAPTS) is created in Kenai to meet the training needs of Alaskan resource development industries
1980 – The population of Anchorage is 174,431
1981 – Engineering Building Opens
1981 – ACC’s Adult Education Center and Merrill Field Aviation Complex (now Aviation Technology Center) opens
1981 – Dr David Outcalt named UA.A chancellor
1981 – Dr. Ronald Smith named acting ACC campus president
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| 1971 demonstration after the forced resignation of Eugene Short, Dean of Anchorage Community College. |
1982 – ACC becomes a separate college with its own chancellor, independent of
Community Colleges and Rural Education Extension (CCREE)
1982 – Dr. Edward Bigerstaff named ACC chancellor
1983 – Allied Health Sciences Building Opens
1983 – UA.A Administration Building Opens
1984 – Dr. Herbert Lyon named ACC chancellor
1986 – First on-campus student apartments open
1986 – UA.A Fine Arts Building opens
1986 – UA.A campus radio station KMPS (later KRUA) begins broadcasting
1986 – Dr. Clark Ahlberg named interim UA.A chancellor
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| Campus, 25 years ago. Large white building is Wendy Williamson. |
1987 – ACC, elements of CCREE and UA.A are merged to become UAA – one of three separately accredited regional universities in the UA system.
1987 – Prince William Sound Community College becomes the only community college in the statewide system
1987 – Dr. Marvin Looney named UAA chancellor
1988 – Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies created to develop new solutions to health problems in Alaska and the Arctic
1988 – Dr Donald O’Dowd named interim chancellor of UAA
1989 – Dr. Donald O’Dowd named UAA chancellor
1989 – Dr. Donald Behrend named UAA chancellor
1992 – UAA students stage a “sleep-in” in protest of proposed cost increases and loss of classes
1992 – University space crunch temporarily relieved by the purchase of the Diplomacy Building at Tudor Center
1992 – Business Education Building (now Rasmuson Hall) opens
1993 – The first Last Frontier Theater Conference is held in Valdez
1993 – The American-Russian Center is created to train businesspeople and government leaders in the Russian Far East
1994 – UAA Minority Student Services becomes AHAINA (African American, Hispanic, Asian, International and Native American) Student Programs
1994 – Edward Lee Gorsuch named UAA Chancellor
1995 – The state-of-the-art expansion of the Aviation Technology Complex opens at Merrill Field
1998 – The Commons and Three four-story residence halls open
1998 – University Honors College created
1999 – Global Logistics program opens, funded by a partnership with the Municipality of Anchorage, private industry and UAA
2000- The Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFÉ) opens
2002 – Enrollment and Financial Services and units of the Community and Technical College occupy the newly remodeled University Center space, revitalizing a dying mall in the heart of Anchorage
2003 – Expansion of the School of Nursing, funded by a partnership with the largest health care providers in Alaska, will double the number of nursing students
2004 – Dedication of the Library of the 21st Century – a transformation of the major addition to the Consortium Library
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| UAA/APU Consortium Library, transformed. |
2004 – Environmental and Biomedical Laboratory Building opens
2004 – Dr. Elaine Maimon named UAA Chancellor
2004 – UAA celebrates its 50th anniversary
2008 – Fran Ulmer named UAA Chancellor
2009 – UAA opens the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building, home to the UAA Planetarium and Visualization Theater
2011 – UAA opens new Health Sciences Building
2011 – Tom Case is named UAA Chancellor
2011 – UAA breaks ground on new Seawolf Sports Arena
