Fred E. Cromer Remembered
When Dr. Fred E. Cromer was shot last Sunday on Kalgin Island the University of Alaska – and all Alaskans directly and indirectly served by it – suffered a great loss.

Fred thought that students and good teaching not red tape, was what mattered. He had an outrageous sense of humor. Fred Cromer cared.

In his capacity as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Mathematics, he often cut red tape so that the hundreds of students he advised each semester could get their programs in order. During his years as associate dean and during this past year as acting dean he consistently and selflessly defended and advocated administrative policies that benefited students and faculty.

As chairman of the statewide committee responsible for computing services, he pushed hard to decentralize the process so that computing services – so critical to both short-term and long-term academic programs – would be readily accessible on each of the campuses served by the university computer system, and of course, at UAA.

But Fred was a man who, despite his dedication, his ideals, and his devotion to excellence, was often taken for granted. We could trust Fred and we relied on him to do the job behind the scenes that needed to be done. He did it without asking or expecting so much as a “Thank you.” And yet, it was Fred who was responsible for originating and who was responsible for originating and implementing many important developments at UAA since his arrival in 1978.

Fred E. Cromer touched the lives of those students and colleagues lucky enough to know him. In his personal life, too, Fred was a devoted father and husband. Moreover, he and his wife, Dee, fostered important family values by committing themselves to the care and love of foster children. Every way one looks at it, Fred was a man (just a farm from Nebraska) who made a difference to the people who knew him. He was an important influence in our community. We will miss him very much. 

On behalf of the entire UAA Faculty Senate:

• Marvin D. Loflin, President
• Ronald Spatz, First Vice President
• Effie Graham, Second Vice President

UA Site named after Fred E. Cromer

Cromer Trail