For Immediate Release
Tuesday, June 15, 2010

University of Alaska President Pat Gamble lauded the choice of University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Fran Ulmer to serve on a national independent panel to investigate the Gulf of Mexico oil
spill.

“This high level commission will have a tough job. Their report has the potential to influence future national energy policy. The president picked Fran because she is a very intelligent woman and brings her specific experience in energy and the environment to the table,” Gamble said. “Her service to the nation will make Alaska, UAA and the UA system all very proud.”

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling will be co-chaired by former Florida Sen. Bob Graham and former federal Environmental Protection Agency chief William Reilly, who ran the agency during the Exxon spill.

Other members announced Monday along with Chancellor Ulmer include Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Terry Garcia, a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assistant secretary who served as NOAA’s general counsel during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound; and Cherry Murray, dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

During Ulmer’s 30-plus years of working in public service on the local, state and national levels, she helped shape both public and environmental policy. As a state legislator, she served as a member on the Special Committee on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Claims Settlement. She was the first chair of the Alaska Coastal Policy Council, a member of Gov. Tony Knowles’ Alaska Highway Natural Gas Policy Council and served for more than 10 years on the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission.

She will continue as UAA’s chancellor, but had already announced plans to retire in June 2011.

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is expected to deliver a report to President Obama within six months.

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For more information, call Kate Ripley at 907/450-8102 or 907/388-3506.