Mary K. Hughes of Anchorage was appointed by Governor Knowles in July 2002, re-appointed by Governor Palin in January 2009 and re-appointed to a third term by Governor Walker in 2017. She graduated from the University of Alaska with a BBA in Management in 1971 and earned her juris doctorate from Willamette University College of Law in 1974. A partner in the law firm of Hughes, Thorsness, Gantz, Powell & Brundin until 1994, she served as the Anchorage Municipal Attorney from 1995-2000 and Of Counsel with the firm until May 2005 when she became Alaska State Director for the Office of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a position she held until January 2008. For seven years, she hosted a weekly radio show, Profile Alaska, on AM 700 KBYR. She is a past president of the Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors and the Alaska Bar Foundation Board of Trustees. She is presently a Trustee of the University of Alaska Foundation and a Life Trustee Emeritus of Willamette University. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges in 2013.

Additionally, she is a former chair and director of the Alaska Humanities Forum and an ex-officio director and former chair of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. She serves on the community advisory board of Alaska Airlines and is a member of the Export Council of Alaska.