APU is helping shape the future of our state by including top-ranked Alaska Native executives among our graduates.
Leaders who earned their degrees at Alaska Pacific University include heads of corporations in nearly every corner of Alaska.
“Our students asked for relevant, rigorous coursework to position them to become second-generation leaders,” said University President Don Bantz. “APU listened, and today we offer more degree options, and more flexible scheduling, for programs of special interest to Alaska Native leaders.”
Graduates include
- Jason Metrokin, Class of 2009, president and CEO, Bristol Bay Native Corp.
- Wayne Westlake, Class of 2002, president and CEO, NANA
- Gloria O’Neill, Class of 2000, president and CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council
- Thomas Mack, Class of 2009, president, Aleut Corp.
- Carolyn Smith, Class of 2003, operations director, NANA
“If I’d realized how relevant my MBA from APU was going to be in my professional life, I’d have done it years earlier,” said Mack, the Aleut corporation president.
New in 2015 is the University’s bachelor’s degree in Alaska Native Governance. Its interdisciplinary coursework attracts students dedicated to serving in tribal, village, corporate and regional bodies.
APU’s Alaska Native Executive Leadership Program, begun in 2013, is a graduate certificate track designed to develop skills and knowledge in demand by Alaska Native corporations.
APU’s commitment to higher education for Alaska Native people stems from its earliest years, when Aleut leader Dr. Peter Gordon Gould helped found the University in 1957.
“APU graduates serve in the highest levels of Alaska Native leadership,” Bantz said. “They’re keeping Dr. Gould’s vision alive for all of us.”
