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Celebrating a century at the University of Alaska Fairbanks 1917-2017 Centennial commemorative issueCentennial commemorative 1 10 No. Vol. 2017 Fall Fairbanks Alaska of University Old Main, the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines’ fi rst building, sits on Troth Yeddha’ in this 1925 photograph taken by famed aviator Noel Wien. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD AURORA ADVISORY BOARD AURORA MAGAZINE FAIRBANKS Gail Dabaluz ’ Andy Angaiak Managing editor Libby Eddy ’ Joan Braddock ’, ’, ’ Chancellor Barbara Fujimoto ’ Amber Darland Jordan ’ Kim Davis Daniel M. White Shannon Johnson-Nanalook ’ David Marusek Editors Director of University Relations Forrest Kuiper ’, ’, ’ Charlene Ostbloom ’ Sam Bishop Michelle Renfrew ’ Rachel Lauesen ’ Paul Reichardt Tori Tragis ’, ’ Mary Beth Loewen ’, ’ Lorna Shaw ’, ’ Shannon McCarthy ’ Peggy Shumaker Designers Brenda Riley ’ Peter Van Flein ’ Kari Halverson Peter Van Flein ’ Venus Sung ’, ’ Amanda Wall ’, ’ Photographers Cindy Wright ’ JR Ancheta ’ Todd Paris ’ (retired) Zayn Roohi Production specialist Andrea Swingley Web designer Sherrie Roberts ’ Produced by UAF University Relations, /. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect o cial positions of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Photos by UAF photographers unless otherwise noted. Send comments or letters to the editor to [email protected] or to P.O. Box , Fairbanks, AK , or call --. We reserve the right to edit for grammar and length. Visit us on the web at www.uaf.edu/aurora/. The University of Alaska Fairbanks is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. UAF is an a rmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution. UAF does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, age, sex, physical or mental disability, status as a protected veteran, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, parenthood, sexual orientation, gender identity, political a liation or belief, genetic information, or other legally protected status. The University’s commitment to nondiscrimination, including against sex discrimination, applies to students, employees, and applicants for admission and employment. Contact information, applicable laws, and complaint procedures are included on UA’s statement of nondiscrimination available at www.alaska.edu/titleIXcompliance/nondiscrimination/. From the chancellor Reaching 100 years old, even for a college, is a major accomplishment. I’m proud to have been associated with UAF for more than one- h of those years, and I’m looking forward to many more as chancellor. I hope this commemorative edition of Aurora magazine will stir fond memories and make you proud that UAF is part of your life’s journey. Daniel M. White An image of “UAF100,” painted with a cellphone by UAF chief photographer JR Ancheta, is captured by a 30-second exposure under the aurora at the Poker Flat Research Range in February 2017. The figure at bottom right is a researcher awaiting a rocket launch at the range. Contents 1 4 14 From the chancellor A mine for learning Alumni across the decades: 1920s -1940s 26 36 48 From the ground up Alumni across the decades: From a cabin to a 1950s -1970s rocket range 56 72 80 Alumni across the The care and feeding of a Campus myths and decades: 1980s -2010s territory legends 90 96 97 Celebration! In memoriam Citations and resources A mine for learning BY SAM BISHOP 5-foot square tunnel runs for Smith served as president of the student hundreds of feet under the Miners Society during his time at the A Fairbanks campus. is is not a college, so he not only took mining courses utilidor, one of those passages for pipes in the adit but also used it to initiate new and wires into which mischievous students society members. occasionally sneak. “We had the new students go through the It’s older, deeper. tunnel, which required them to stoop, since And students built this tunnel, for the adit was only about 5 feet from oor to students. No sneaking was necessary to roof,” he recalled in January, shortly a er gain entry — just a little training and, turning 100. [See pro le on page 22.] sometimes, a paddle swat on the backside. “Members of the society had paddles that The University of Alaska Fairbanks they would whack the students’ butts with began in 1917 with a more speci c title as they walked crouching along the tunnel,” — the Alaska Agricultural College and Smith said. “ ey would straighten up and School of Mines. The tunnel, started hit their head on the roof. at taught them shortly a er the college opened for classes the value of the miner’s helmet.” in 1922, helped make real the second half at was just one lesson learned in the of its name. tunnel, where students went for their It was a mine, or at least a rough model required course in practical mining of one. techniques. For decades, the tunnel, called an “adit,” Patrick O’Neill ’41, ’53, ’76 (Hon.) helped give a dose of practical training to learned how to throw dirt. at skill got students learning from books and lectures him noticed and promoted a few years later, in the buildings on the surface of College he said. Hill. e adit has long since been plugged, “One of the things I learned was, instead but the emphasis on practical learning that of taking a shovel full of dirt and turning it represented lives on at the university’s around, was to throw it over your shoulder,” modern mining school. O’Neill said in an interview in January The tunnel entered the hillside near 2017. (He turned 102 in August.) today’s heat and power plant. A er each round of drilling and blast- “It went in on the level, so I expect it must ing at the tunnel end, students shoveled the have been about 100 feet deep when it got loose rock and dirt, called muck, into small under the university buildings,” said Ray cars on a set of railroad-like tracks. ey’d Smith ’43 in an interview earlier this year. then push the cars out the tunnel by hand “ ere was a fairly good-size room right at and dump them, O’Neill said. It was hard the end.” work but an expected part of the practical Rasmuson Libraryarchives (for complete citation, see page 97) mining course. Earl Beistline, far left, demonstrates features of the campus mining ore mill in this undated photograph. The mill was one of several components in a model operation created early in the university’s history to educate students in practical aspects of mining. Beistline was dean of the mining programs for decades. www.uaf.edu/aurora/ 5 centennial 2017 A mine for learning BY SAM BISHOP 5-foot square tunnel runs for Smith served as president of the student hundreds of feet under the Miners Society during his time at the A Fairbanks campus. is is not a college, so he not only took mining courses utilidor, one of those passages for pipes in the adit but also used it to initiate new and wires into which mischievous students society members. occasionally sneak. “We had the new students go through the It’s older, deeper. tunnel, which required them to stoop, since And students built this tunnel, for the adit was only about 5 feet from oor to students. No sneaking was necessary to roof,” he recalled in January, shortly a er gain entry — just a little training and, turning 100. [See pro le on page 22.] sometimes, a paddle swat on the backside. “Members of the society had paddles that The University of Alaska Fairbanks they would whack the students’ butts with began in 1917 with a more speci c title as they walked crouching along the tunnel,” — the Alaska Agricultural College and Smith said. “ ey would straighten up and School of Mines. The tunnel, started hit their head on the roof. at taught them shortly a er the college opened for classes the value of the miner’s helmet.” in 1922, helped make real the second half at was just one lesson learned in the of its name. tunnel, where students went for their It was a mine, or at least a rough model required course in practical mining of one. techniques. For decades, the tunnel, called an “adit,” Patrick O’Neill ’41, ’53, ’76 (Hon.) helped give a dose of practical training to learned how to throw dirt. at skill got students learning from books and lectures him noticed and promoted a few years later, in the buildings on the surface of College he said. Hill. e adit has long since been plugged, “One of the things I learned was, instead but the emphasis on practical learning that of taking a shovel full of dirt and turning it represented lives on at the university’s around, was to throw it over your shoulder,” modern mining school. O’Neill said in an interview in January The tunnel entered the hillside near 2017. (He turned 102 in August.) today’s heat and power plant. A er each round of drilling and blast- “It went in on the level, so I expect it must ing at the tunnel end, students shoveled the have been about 100 feet deep when it got loose rock and dirt, called muck, into small under the university buildings,” said Ray cars on a set of railroad-like tracks. ey’d Smith ’43 in an interview earlier this year. then push the cars out the tunnel by hand “ ere was a fairly good-size room right at and dump them, O’Neill said. It was hard the end.” work but an expected part of the practical Rasmuson Libraryarchives (for complete citation, see page 97) mining course.

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