June 1, 2008
Alexander honored with classroom dedication
Vera Alexander stands next to the plaque dedicating room 201 of the O'Neill building as the Vera Alexander Learning Center. Photo by Allison Blanchard, UAF Marketing and Communications.
Vera Alexander stands next to the plaque dedicating room 201 of the O'Neill building as the Vera Alexander Learning Center. Photo by Allison Blanchard, UAF Marketing and Communications.
Fairbanks, Alaska—In 1965, Vera Alexander became the first woman to receive a doctorate at the University of Alaska. Four decades later, after serving as a professor of marine science, a director and as a dean, Alexander has been honored with the dedication of a new smart classroom at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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 School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences dean Denis Wiesenburg thanked Alexander for more than forty years of service and unveiled the room's dedication plaque.
The recently completed Vera Alexander Learning Center is the most technologically advanced classroom 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 is used to broadcast courses to students at any of the school's five divisions in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak and Seward. The room 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 Rasmuson Foundation, as part of a multi-million dollar expansion of UAF's fisheries program.
After receiving her Ph.D. in marine science at the University of Alaska in 1965, Alexander became an associate professor at the fledgling Institute of Marine Science 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 twenty years, until 2004.
Alexander is currently a professor emeritus and is on the advisory board for the UAF Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center. She is part of various scientific steering committees, including those for the international Census of Marine Life, the North Pacific Research Board and NOAA Ocean Explorations. Alexander is the president of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States.
The UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences conducts world-class marine and fisheries research, education and outreach across Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctic. 55 faculty scientists and 135 graduate students are engaged in building knowledge about Alaska and the world's coastal and marine ecosystems. SFOS is headquartered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and serves the state from facilities located in Seward, Juneau, Anchorage and Kodiak.
 Chancellor Steve Jones remarks on Alexander's many achievements during the dedication ceremony. Photo by Allison Blanchard, UAF Marketing and Communications. |  SFOS Dean Denis Wiesenburg thanks Alexander for more than forty years of service to marine science in Alaska and the world. Photo by Carin Bailey Stephens. |
 Alexander stands by the dedication plaque with Wiesenburg and Jones. Photo by Allison Blanchard, UAF Marketing and Communications. |  A group of UAF faculty, staff and students celebrate the dedication of the Vera Alexander Learning Center. Photo by Allison Blanchard, UAF Marketing and Communications. |
 Alexander cuts the cake while her granddaughter looks on. Photo by Carin Bailey Stephens. |