AGE:                          67

 

BIRTH PLACE:        Mexico, Missouri

 

SPOUSE:                  Darlene

 

CHILDREN:             Lori and Lisa; four grandchildren:        

                                    Taylor, Kadence, Basil, and Evan

 

OCCUPATION:        Placer Miner

 

YEARS IN ALASKA:  66

 

COMMUNITIES LIVED IN:

Fairbanks, also lived in communities in the Southeast, the Yukon Delta, the Northern Region, and Interior — moving where my father’s or my work took me.

 

EDUCATION:            Lathrop High School, Fairbanks, 1974

 

POLITICAL, GOVERNMENT, AND PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS:

• State Senator, 2013-2024

   - Member, Senate Finance Committee, 2013-2024

   - Co-Chairman, 2021-2022, Vice-Chairman, 2017-2018

   - Chairman, Senate Community and Regional Affairs  

      Committee, 2017-2020

   - Chairman, Senate Labor and Commerce Committee,

     2020

   - Co-Chairman, Energy Council, 2022

• Commissioner, Alaska Department of Labor and  

   Workforce Development, 2007-2012

• Alaska Operating Engineers Employers Training Trust,   

  1991-2006

   - Northern Region Apprenticeship Coordinator

   - Statewide Administrator           

 

INTERESTS:

History, Mining, Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, Boating, Snowmachining, and Dog Mushing

 

OTHER:

• Yukon 800 riverboat race winner, 1998 & 2000

• Thomas Cashen Award, 2008

• Spearheaded a nationally recognized gasline training plan, 2009

• Member:  Operating Engineers Local 302, Alaska Miners Association, Pioneers of Alaska, and NRA

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