With campuses, learning centers, research facilities and offices in communities from Ketchikan to Unalaska to Alaska’s North Slope, UAF’s mission is to serve the entire state of Alaska, an area larger than Texas, California and Montana combined.

See the map of UAF’s locations in Alaska.

7,486 students

250+ degrees & majors

40,000+ alumni

2,000 donors

The chancellor is the public face of UAF. We are looking for someone who embodies UAF’s unique attributes. Nanooks are dependable, welcoming, unassuming and industrious. Our leader has to be as comfortable speaking on the national and international stage as with greeting our new students at orientation.

As UAF’s next leader, you must be ready to:

• Shape UAF to meet the needs of the state and nation as worldwide interest in the Arctic grows
• Partner with faculty to visualize and grow key academic programs
• Innovate in order to keep up with student expectations and the changing higher education landscape in America
• Be a transparent and conscientious steward of public resources
• Keep our students at the center of your leadership philosophy
• Advocate for UAF’s needs at the state and federal level
• Create and nurture positive relationships with alumni, donors and community partners
• Strengthen UAF’s commitment to Alaska Native and Indigenous programs
• Position UAF as a leader in Arctic research and policy
• Model servant leadership for our students and employees

The University of Alaska system of higher education was established in 1917 at UAF. The UA system’s three universities — University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks and University of Alaska Southeast — are separately accredited institutions with a combined 13 community campuses and extended learning centers across Alaska. The UAF chancellor reports to the president of the UA system. The president reports to the UA Board of Regents, which sets policy to meet the distributed and diverse needs for the state’s higher education. Regents are appointed by the governor.

UAF’s main campus is located in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, a community of about 95,000 people living about 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle in the Tanana River Valley. If you stand in a parking lot outside the chancellor’s office on a clear day, you can see more than 150 miles to North America’s tallest peak.

Alaska is enormous and wonderful. 

The Fairbanks North Star Borough is about the same size as the state of New Jersey and is Alaska’s third-largest community. It’s more than 300 miles by road from Alaska’s two other larger communities, Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. 

Yes, it’s cold here in the winter. Daylight is scarce as the northern hemisphere tilts away from the sun. And we see the aurora dancing overhead when we look out our windows. We gather together to share the warmth of our community at concerts and sporting competitions and countless other events every week. We enjoy a hot drink from one of dozens of drive-through coffee stands after a walk or ski on local trails. UAF alone has more than 25 miles of trails right on campus. You'll never find another place like it, and warm outdoor wear is key to enjoying the unique environment.

In the summer, we are bathed in nearly round-the-clock sun for gardening, hiking, hunting and fishing, outdoor festivals, baseball games, berry-picking, and floating through town on the Chena River. While most students are away on summer break, UAF comes alive with public lectures, pre-college programs, camps, concerts in our botanical gardens and fine arts festivals and academies.

You can find out more about living in Fairbanks by visiting the Explore Fairbanks website.

University of Alaska System President
Pat Pitney

UA System Administration

University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor
Cheryl Siemers, Interim

UAA Administration

University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor
Mike Sfraga, Interim

UAF Administration

University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor
Aparna Palmer

UAS Administration