President Pitney has selected UAA alumna Memry Dahl to serve as the system’s new Chief Human Resources Officer. She will begin on April 13, will be based in Anchorage, and is committed to spending adequate time in Fairbanks and Juneau.

“Memry brings a strong foundation in human resources in complex organizations, with diverse business units operating under the same umbrella organization. This experience will serve her - and us - well,” says President Pitney. “Working with university leadership and the HR team, she’ll take a holistic approach to meeting our human resources needs and to building a culture of empowered employees.” 

Ms. Dahl most recently served as the Senior Director of Human Resources and Administration at Koniag, Inc, the Alaska regional corporation serving the Kodiak Island area. She also held HR leadership positions at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, The Aleut Corporation, and First Alaskans Institute. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from UAA, she holds a master’s in human resources management from the Keller Graduate School of Management at Devry University and PHR (Professional in Human Resources) certification. She is Alaska Native and a Shareholder of The Aleut Corporation. She was born and raised in Sand Point, Alaska. She is the daughter of Steve and Sharon Hakala and Stanley Mack of Sand Point.

“UA’s vast opportunities drew me to the position, and I’m excited and humbled to work with the incredibly dedicated university leadership teams in service of all of our students and employees,” says Dahl. “The UA system is near and dear to my heart as an alumna, with two daughters who are also alums.” 

This selection is the result of a national search. The search committee* included representatives from each of our universities, the system office, faculty governance and staff governance.The committee recommended two finalists to the president. 

Acting CHRO David Bishko will return his focus to serving as a business strategist for the system office, using insight on the systems operations and organizational culture gained during his tenure as interim CHRO. He will be working closely with CHRO Dahl during the transition. 

* Search committee

• Michael Ciri, VC Administrative Services (UAS)
• Juella Sparks, Staff Alliance Chair (Governance)
• Kelly Smith, Faculty Alliance Rep (Governance)
• Bobi Rinehart, Assoc Vice Chancellor for Development (UAA)
• Jennifer Booz, Chief Diversity Officer (UAA)
• Paul Kraft, Sitka Campus Director (UAS)
• Anupma Prakash, Provost (UAF)
• Nettie La Belle-Hamer, VC Research (UAF)
• Wayne Mowery, Associate General Counsel (System Office)
• Pearl Brower, Senior Advisor for Institutional Diversity (System Office)