Alexander honored with classroom dedication
Alexander honored with classroom dedication
Submitted by Carin Bailey Stephens
Phone: 907-322-8730
06/03/08
In 1965, Vera Alexander became the first woman to receive a doctorate at the University of ÐÓ°Épro. Four decades later, after serving as a professor of marine science, a director and a dean, Alexander has been honored with the dedication of a new smart classroom at the ÐÓ°Épro.
The classroom, room 201 in the O’Neill Building on UAF’s West Ridge, was renamed the Vera Alexander Learning Center during a dedication ceremony held on Wednesday, May 28. At the ceremony, UAF Chancellor Steve Jones and Denis Wiesenburg, dean of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, unveiled the room’s dedication plaque and thanked Alexander for more than 40 years of service.
The recently completed center is among the most technologically advanced classrooms on the UAF campus. Equipped with complete videoconferencing capabilities, widescreen plasma displays and an interactive dry erase board called a smart board, the classroom connects the five major locations of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
The classroom broadcasts courses to students at any of the school’s five divisions in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak and Seward. It will also be used for thesis and dissertation defenses, seminars and lectures. Funding for the building of the learning center was provided in part by the , as part of a multi-million-dollar .
After receiving her doctorate in marine science at the University of ÐÓ°Épro in 1965, Alexander became an associate professor at the fledgling on the Fairbanks campus. In 1980, she became the director of IMS. When the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences was formed in 1987, Alexander became its first dean and served for nearly 20 years, until 2004.
Alexander is currently a professor emeritus and is on the advisory board for the . She is part of various scientific steering committees, including those for the international , the and . Alexander is the president of the .
The UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences conducts world-class marine and fisheries research, education and outreach across ÐÓ°Épro, the Arctic and Antarctic. 55 faculty scientists and 135 graduate students are engaged in building knowledge about ÐÓ°Épro and the world’s coastal and marine ecosystems. SFOS is headquartered at the University of ÐÓ°Épro Fairbanks, and serves the state from facilities located in Seward, Juneau, Anchorage and Kodiak.