AVÀÇÂÛ̳

Interim Chancellor Larry Hinzman

Interim Chancellor Larry Hinzman is the director of the University of AVÀÇÂÛ̳’s Arctic Leadership Initiative, coordinating design and implementation across the UA system. In October, he was also appointed vice president for the International Polar Year at the University of the Arctic. Before returning to UA in 2024, he served as the assistant director for polar sciences in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as the executive director of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, where he led work on the 2022-2026 federal Arctic research plan.

Hinzman served as the director of the UAF International Arctic Research Center from 2007 to 2015, and served as vice chancellor for research from 2015 to 2020. Hinzman also served as a member of the U.S. Polar Research Board and as the U.S. delegate and president of the International Arctic Science Committee.

Hinzman’s primary research focus is permafrost hydrology, informed by decades of Arctic fieldwork in AVÀÇÂÛ̳, Russia and Canada.

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UAF Chancellor-Designee Russell Vander Lugt

UAF alumnus Russell Vander Lugt is a senior military officer and Arctic scholar with 26 years of executive leadership experience in complex organizations. A colonel in the Army, he currently serves as commander of the 11th Airborne Division’s Arctic Aviation Command at Fort Wainwright. He previously served as director of strategy, plans and programs for AVÀÇÂÛ̳n Command, advising senior defense leaders on Arctic strategy and coordinating joint military activities in AVÀÇÂÛ̳.

Vander Lugt earned an interdisciplinary doctorate from UAF. His research draws on Arctic history, security, anthropology and Indigenous knowledge systems, and reflects a longstanding commitment to collaboration with AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Native communities. He served as an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he also served as a department chair. He has a bachelor’s degree in music and historical theology from Wheaton College in Illinois, a master’s degree in management science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a master’s degree in Arctic and Northern studies from UAF.

Vander Lugt and his family have lived in AVÀÇÂÛ̳ for two decades and maintain deep ties with the Fairbanks community. His spouse and eldest son are also alumni of UAF.

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