Sign Alaska Banking Medical History Later

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versity of Alaska Fairbanks is honored to name the late elmer and Mary Louise Rasmussen grace berg scheibel and the usibelli family as the philanthropists of the century yo F centennial milestone provides an opportunity to convey our profound gratitude to some very special uaf friends among our many generous supporters these distinguished honorees blazed the trail that led us through our first 100 years at an exceptional level they have dedicated their time and resources to uaf and there's not a corner of our campus that hasn't been touched by their generosity the impact of their steadfast support can be seen in the names of our buildings and on the faces of our students who receive scholarships it is our great privilege to celebrate these champions who have selflessly given back to advance our mission into the next century supporting higher education in Alaska for generations to come Elmer Rasmussen was a lifelong Alaskan born in Yakutat in 1909 and raised in Skagway he began work as a teenager in his father's bank national bank of Alaska then led a distinguished career as a prominent businessman mary-louise came to Alaska later in life and embraced the rustic environment of the frontier state Elmer became a member of the ua Board of Regents in 1950 and he enthusiastically supported the creation of a university system that would serve all of Alaska Elmer new Alaska's abundant resources and newly gained statehood needed homegrown management to lead local businesses the fisheries program the UM Museum of the north and the Rasmussen library are just a few of the landmarks on our campus dedicated to their legacy Elmer and Mary Louise gave generously to uaf over their lifetime inspiring industry leaders and philanthropists alike to create a legacy here in Alaska Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmussen have played a unique role in Alaskan history and it's really remarkable I think what they've left and given to really the state of Alaska he had gone outside his degree from Harvard University and but came back to Alaska in the 1940s to help his father run the bank of Alaska in no short time it became by far the most important bank in Alaska's history I was lucky enough to work with him for three or four years very closely and he was a formidable man in every sense of the word his children basically said you know dad you've taken care of and so it was with their approval and encouragement that he put i think it was close to four hundred million dollars into the foundation it was an experienced in banking that he knew how difficult in fact it was to attract capital to alaska that he essentially plowed the profits of the bank of alaska back in to the people of Alaska through the Rasmussen foundation I think learning and developing a culture of philanthropy and giving is something that all of us need to teach the younger generation and really I think it's incumbent upon all Alaskan to sort of help give back to this place that's given so much to us the impact of Elmer and Mary Louise is evident across Alaska and uif is so appreciative of their friendship grace berg Schaible and her late husband arthur have been steadfast supporters of higher education health arts and culture in Alaska grace grew up in Juneau and earned a bachelor's degree from uaf in 1949 later earning a law degree from Yale in 1959 she spent her career practicing law in Fairbanks was the first woman to hold the office of Alaska Attorney General and received an honorary doctor of laws degree from uaf in 1991 she was nominated as the outstanding philanthropist of the year by the National Society of fundraising executives and later received the University of Alaska president's medal for excellence grace has been a thoughtful and generous donor to the University for many years enriching the lives of students through scholarships and health services and fellowships at the geophysical Institute as well as to arts and cultural programs closest to her heart she is a steadfast supporter of the UN Museum of the north recently donated a portion of her extensive art collection to the museum including many of her beloved manic art pieces grapes has some qualities that I think that we all can emulate her generosity is obviously the first one that comes to mind her expertise in a lot of different areas Grace has has donated when it's all said and done it'll it'll be close to a probably 2,000 objects between the ethnographic and historical collections and the fine art collection and they're important pieces you know they're they're pieces that we definitely will want to continue to share she has invested time and money and relationship and in order to develop you really truly curate a collection that represents herself and her family and her experience of the north they are a part of her and I think it she just really believed in the mission of the University end of an easy through her quiet philanthropy and dedication to improving the quality of life of Alaskans race has left a remarkable legacy as one of Alaska's most influential philanthropists and we are proud to know her as a true friends of the University email usibelli emigrated to Alaska from Italy in 1935 he founded usibelli coal mine near Healy in 1943 and began supplying coal to lad army airfield now Fort Wainwright usibelli coal mine has been a family business led by uaf alumni ever since the usibelli family in coal mine are passionate about Alaska education workforce development and supporting the communities where they live and work they have invested in every aspect of our university from student scholarships to faculty support and capital projects and have served in leadership and advisory roles for the University of Alaska and uaf supporting students academic careers and preparing them for the workforce has always been a priority for endowed funds that award scholarships to approximately 15 students every year have also been created by the youth of ellie's at uaf when I received the scholarship I was ecstatic it really meant a lot to me that people would consider me basically to be a good investment I'm currently working on a capstone project investigating ancient genetics they get to design my own project i get to sequence DNA i get to run my own samples and do everything so low it allows me so much more freedom that i would have had otherwise and one scholarship did that being awarded the scholarship really allowed me to work to my fullest potential I believe it's tremendously important for research at uaf to be funded to help these people really become the engineers the biologists the artists writers that they are meant to be thanks to the for thought and consideration of the usibelli family countless faculty alumni and students like Connor have been supported in their pursuit of a better life uaf is deeply grateful for emails pioneering spirit and for the values that members of his family continue to exemplify today [Music]