Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

. It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

. The main campus is located adjacent to the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Prin ...

(UAA) and the

Alaska Native Medical Center The Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) is a non-profit health center based in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, which provides medical services to 158,000 Alaska Natives and other Native Americans in Alaska. It acts as both the secondary and t ...

History

The university was founded in the late 1950s as Alaska Methodist University by Peter Gordon Gould, an

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

from

Unga, Alaska Unga ( Unangam tunuu: ''Uĝnaasaqax̂'') is a ghost town on Unga Island in the Aleutians East Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, about two miles west of Sand Point. The island's length is 15 miles (24 km). Unga's altitude is 59& ...

. Gould became the first Alaska Native minister in the United Methodist Church later in life, and used his position to campaign for the development of a Methodist University in Alaska. Alaska Methodist University dedicated its campus on June 28, 1959. In April 1958, Dr. Donald F. Ebright was elected as the university's first administrative president. Frederick P. McGinnis was elected in 1960, and served as acting president to the first class of students to attend the university. Approximately 900 acres of land destined to become the site of the APU Kellogg Campus was attained in 1973 from the DeWolf-Kellogg Trust. In November 1978 Alaska Methodist University was renamed Alaska Pacific University. Despite the university's origins with Judeo-Christian traditions found in United Methodism, there is no sectarian or doctrinal creed found in its educational offerings. In 2016, APU formed a strategic partnership with the

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) is a non-profit health organization based in Anchorage, Alaska, which provides health services to 158,000 Alaska Natives and American Indians in Alaska. Established in 1997, ANTHC is a consortium ...

, the largest Tribal health organization in the country. The partnership supports the development of academic and cultural programs focusing on the needs of the state and Alaska Natives.

Academics

The Early Honors program functions as an alternative to the senior year in high school. Undergraduates can pursue liberal arts and sciences programs. APU's course year is split into "block" sessions of four weeks, co-existing alongside the "session" of eleven weeks to form a semester. APU offers nine graduate programs, eight master's degrees and one doctoral degree. There are also several graduate certificate options. APU also offers a professional studies programs for

non-traditional students A nontraditional student is a term originating in North America, that refers to a category of students at colleges and universities. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) notes that there are varying definitions of nontraditional s ...

Campus

The main campus includes academic facilities, residence halls, community gathering spaces, recreational facilities, and winter and summer recreational trails. The campus consists of eight major buildings, with five of them currently utilized directly by the university. The three other buildings on the main campus are offices for the

US Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, an ...

Alaska Public Media Alaska Public Media is a non-profit organization with member television and radio stations that are part of PBS, NPR and other public broadcasting networks. Formerly known as Alaska Public Telecommunications, Inc., Alaska Public Media relies upo ...

, and the Alaska Spine Institute. The Atwood Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the location (along with North and South Atwood) of a major conference of Alaska Natives at the time of the passage of the

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standin ...

in 1971. APU has an extension of its campus in

Palmer, AK Palmer (Ahtna: ''Nił'etse'it'aade'' or ''Nuutah''; Dena'ina: ''Denal'i Kena'') is a city in and the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States, located northeast of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway in the Matanuska V ...

known as the Kellogg Campus. It functions as a 700-acre working farm for students of the sustainability program, as well as an environmental learning center for home-schooled students. There are multiple housing accommodations on the main campus, divided up by class year designations. All incoming freshman under 21 years of age are required to live on campus for their first two years.

Student life

Athletics

Alaska Pacific University is known for its Nordic Ski Team. The APU Nordic Ski Center (APUNSC) was established in 1999 as a regional Olympic training center for cross-country skiers. According to the center's "About" page, the mission of APUNSC is to encourage involvement in

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

programs in Anchorage. APUNSC offers year-round training programs for all levels of skiers who wish to compete professionally. Alaska Methodist University's ski team sent four skiers to the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

; AMU/APU has sent at minimum one skier to every winter Olympics after 1972, including

Kikkan Randall Kikkan Randall (born December 31, 1982) is an American, Olympic champion cross-country skier. She has won 17 U.S. National titles, made 29 podiums on the World Cup, made five trips to the Winter Olympic Games and had the highest finish by an indiv ...

who became a gold medalist in the cross-country skiing event at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

Clubs/Associations

Associated Students of Alaska Pacific University (ASAPU) is the elected body for student government. ASAPU members represent student interests and oversee student clubs and organizations. APU has a typical assortment of student clubs and organizations with which students can affiliate themselves. In the Residence Halls, the Resident Activity Programming Board hosts events for students who live on campus.

Notable alumni

Sadie Bjornsen Sadie Maubet Bjornsen (, born November 21, 1989) is a retired American cross-country skier and former member of the United States Ski Team Nordic programs "Cross Country A Team" roster. Her brother Erik Bjornsen is also a cross-country skier. ...

, cross-country skier ( Olympian in 2014 and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) * Holly Brooks, former cross-country skier ( Olympian in 2010 and 2014) * Sharon Cissna, member of the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

* Lew Freedman, author, sports writer and columnist at ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'' * Katherine Gottlieb, President & CEO of

Southcentral Foundation Southcentral Foundation (SCF) is an Alaska Native health care organization established by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) in 1982 to improve the health and social conditions of Alaska Native and American Indian people, enhance culture, and empower in ...

* Albert Kookesh, former member of the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gu ...

and

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

community leader *

Walt Monegan Walter Carleton Monegan III (born May 1951) is an American politician and the former Police Chief of Anchorage, Alaska, and later Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. His dismissal in July 2008 by Alaska governor Sarah Palin dr ...

, former police chief of Anchorage and former Alaska Commissioner of Public Safety *

, cross-country skier ( Olympian in 2006 and 2018; gold medal winner in 2018) *

Josh Revak Joshua Carl Revak (born January 21, 1981) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Alaska Senate since November 2, 2019. Originally elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 2018, Revak was appointed to the Senate to re ...

, Purple Heart recipient and member of the

Alaska State Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gube ...

*Scott Stephens, vocalist for

Liquid Blue Liquid Blue is an American indie pop rock band/cover band formed in San Diego, California in 1996 by Scott Stephens and Michael Vangerov. The group has performed in more than 500 cities in 100 countries on six continents and have been recognized as ...

* Rosita Worl, president of the

Sealaska Sealaska Corporation is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Sealaska was incorporated in Alaska on June 16, 1972.Corp ...

Heritage Institute

References

External links

*
History of AMU
* {{Authority control 1957 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures in Anchorage, Alaska Educational institutions established in 1957 Methodism in Alaska Private universities and colleges in Alaska Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Methodist Church