Former UA Regent Mary Jane Fate passes away

Leona Long


Mary Jane Fate, a former member of the Board of Regents, passed away on April 10 at the Denali Center in the company of her husband of 65 years, former state Rep. Hugh “Bud” Fate. She was 86.

Mary Jane Fate
Mary Jane Fate

Fate is remembered for her tireless work to improve all aspects of Alaska Native people’s lives and service to the University of Alaska community.

“Mary Jane was keenly intelligent, beautiful inside-and-out, and a trailblazing woman cherished by our family and so many Alaskans across our state,”said Fate’s son-in-law Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). “She was an example of how compassion and a fierce dedication to public service could fundamentally transform so many lives for the better. She taught me so much about the perseverance, brilliance and culture of our Alaska Native people.”

Fate was born Mary Jane Evans on Sept. 4, 1933, in Rampart, a Koyukon Athabascan village on the Yukon River. She attended the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Mount Edgecumbe boarding high school in Sitka. She was one of the first Alaska Native women to attend the University of Alaska. She married Bud Fate in 1954. The couple settled in Fairbanks and raised their family.

In 1992, Fate was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in recognition of her accomplishments. A year later she joined the University of Alaska Board of Regents, a position she held for eight years. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed her to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, where she served for a little more than four years and was the only Indigenous member of the panel.

The Athabascan elder dedicated her life to advocating for the health and equity of Alaska Natives. While her accomplishments are too numerous to comprehensively list, highlights include co-founding the Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska in Fairbanks, co-founding the Fairbanks Native Association, becoming the first female co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives, and becoming the first woman to serve on the board of Alaska Airlines.

Fate was one of the original lobbyists for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and worked with resolve to convince the White House and Congress to convey 40 million acres of land and $1 billion to Alaska Natives in return for Natives giving up land rights so construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline could begin. 

“In my travels all over the state, one constant theme emerged: so many people looked up to my mother-in-law as an inspiring role model,” said Senator Sullivan.” Young, old, Native and non-Native, she was loved by Alaskans from all walks of life, myself included. She will be greatly missed, but her spirit lives across Alaska—including through my lovely and gracious wife, her sisters, and our three daughters.”

Fate is survived by her husband; her three daughters, Janine Avner (Correy), Jennifer Velaise (Jean Louis), and Julie Sullivan (Dan); grandchildren, Barrett, Janna, Alex, Ben, Theo, Meghan, Isabella, Laurel, Hallie, Amanda, Justin and Trenton; sisters, Alice Phillips (Norman) and Lilly Evans; her 15 nieces and nephews; and various cousins.

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