| About Alaska - Famous Alaskans |
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HISTORICAL
- E.T. Barnette, Fairbanks, trader who founded Fairbanks in 1902-03.
- Benny Benson, Chignik, designed the Alaska state flag in 1927 while a seventh-grader. (Died in 1972.)
- Alfred Hulse Brooks, Fairbanks, chief Alaska geologist (1903-24) of the U.S. Geological Survey. Discovered that the biggest mountain range in Arctic Alaska was separate from the Rocky Mountains; Brooks Range was later named for him. (Died in 1924.)
- Joe Crosson, Fairbanks, early Fairbanks pilot. Found the site of Carl Ben Eielson's crash in Siberia in 1930 and in 1935 flew out the bodies of Will Rogers and Wiley Post from Barrow.
- Carl Ben Eielson, Fairbanks, pilot. Pioneered air mail service in Alaska after arriving in state as a teacher in 1922. Received Distinguished Flying Cross for the first plane flight over the top of the world, to Spitzbergen, Norway. Died in crash of rescue flight in Siberia, winter of 1929-30. Fairbanks-area Eielson Air Force Base and the visitors’ center deep in Denali National Park are named for him.
- Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary and friend of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison who pushed for the approval of the Organic Act of 1884. Following passage, he went on to serve the state’s educational needs. Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, AK, is named after him.
- Joe Juneau, Juneau, prospector and namesake of the state capital. (Died in 1903.)
- Felix Pedro, Fairbanks, discovered gold along what is now Pedro Creek northeast of Fairbanks and started the area's gold rush in 1902.
- Elizabeth Peratrovich was an activist for equality and civil rights for Alaska Native peoples.
- Leonhard Seppala, already Alaska's most famous musher when his dog team, led by Togo, carried diphtheria serum the greatest distance in the Nome emergency of 1925. This event lead to the modern day Iditarod Race.
- Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, Skagway, gold-rush swindler. (Died in 1898.)
- Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz,” was a prisoner known to keep and sell birds.
- Ivan Veniaminov, Russian priest and bishop who in the mid-1800s worked in Sitka and Unalaska, where he created the first written Aleut language, kept the first Alaska weather records, and helped build historic churches.
POLITICS
- Bob Bartlett, U.S. Senator 1959-68 whose likeness is part of the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection.
- William Egan, Valdez and Anchorage, first governor of the state of Alaska. Holds the distinction of being the only Alaskan governor who was born in the state.
- Mike (Maurice) Gravel, Anchorage, U.S. senator 1969-1981 best known for reading the Pentagon Papers into the public record.
- Ernest Gruening, Juneau, territorial governor 1939-1953, one of Alaska’s first U.S. senators. Served from 1959 to 1969. Gruening’s likeness is one of two statues sponsored by Alaska in the National Statuary Hall.
- Jay Hammond, Alaska governor 1974-1982 who oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
- Walter Hickel, Anchorage, governor 1966-69 and 1990-94 and U.S. secretary of interior 1969-1970.
- Tony Knowles, Anchorage, mayor of Anchorage 1982-1987 and governor 1994-2002.
- Frank Murkowski, Fairbanks, U.S. senator 1981-2002 and governor 2002-2006.
- Emil Notti, Ruby, first president of the Alaska Federation of Natives.
- Howard Rock, Point Hope, founder of Tundra Times newspaper, opponent of nuclear testing in Alaska and catalyst for Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
SPORTS
- Balto and Togo, sled dogs who helped deliver life-saving diphtheria antitoxin from Anchorage to Nome. Togo led the team for the longest and most hazardous distance on the 1925 relay. Balto is the better known of the two dogs for being the lead dog at the time the team arrived in Nome.
- Carlos Boozer, Juneau, NBA basketball player currently playing for the Utah Jazz.
- Martin Buser, Big Lake, four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Buser is the only winner in history to finish the Iditarod in less than 9 days.
- Susan Butcher, Fairbanks, four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Butcher is also perhaps the best known Iditarod musher and her success led to the saying, “Alaska: where men are men and women win the Iditarod.”
- Matt Carle, Anchorage, is a hockey player currently with the Worchester Sharks. He was originally drafted in 2003 by the San Jose Sharks.
- Ty Conklin, Anchorage, hockey player currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets organization. Previously, he played for the Edmonton Oilers.
- Rosey Fletcher, Girdwood, World Cup skateboarder and Olympic skier. Most recently, Fletcher won a bronze medal in the women’s Parallel Giant Slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torin, Italy.
- Scott Gomez, Anchorage, a center for the New Jersey Devils hockey player who earned the Calder Memorial Trophy as the top rookie in the NHL.
- Travis Hall, Kenai, is a defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers football team. Prior to playing with the 49ers, Hall played for 10 years with the Atlanta Falcons.
- Nina Kemppel, Anchorage, four-time member of the U.S. Olympic cross-country team and winner of 18 national ski championships.
- Tommy Moe, Girdwood, won 1994 Olympic gold medal in downhill skiing and silver medal for super-G. Moe was the first American male skier to win 2 medals in a single Olympics.
- Joe Redington Sr., Knik, founder of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1973 who worked to promote the sport for many years. He competed in well over a dozen races himself.
- Libby Riddles, Knik, first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1985.
- Brian Swanson, Eagle River, hockey player currently with the Sinupret Ice Tigers. Previously, Swanson played for the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Wolves, and Atlanta Thrashers hockey teams.
- Rick Swenson, Two Rivers, five-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. In addition, Swenson is the only person to win an Iditarod in three separate decades and has completed 26, more than any other person.
- Mark Schlereth, Anchorage, former pro football player turned analyst for ESPN’s NFL Live. He played for the Washington Redskins and the Denver Broncos.
- Reggie Tongue, Fairbanks, is an NFL football player for the Oakland Raiders. Previously, Tongue played for Seattle Seahawks and the New York Jets.
- Mao Tosi, Anchorage, Arizona Cardinals football player.
- Norman Vaughan, Anchorage, member of Byrd Antarctic expedition 1928-30, sled-dog handler at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher.
ARTS
- Irene Bedard, Anchorage, actress.
- Byron Birdsall, Anchorage, painter.
- Tom Bodett, Homer, novelist and voice of Motel 6 commercials.
- Ruben Gaines, Anchorage, state's first poet laureaute. Created Chilkoot Charlie character. (Died in 1994.)
- Vivica Genaux, Fairbanks, operatic mezzo singer.
- John Haines, Richardson, poet.
- Sue Henry, Anchorage, mystery writer.
- John Hoover, Cordova, carver.
- Jack Hudson, Metlakatla, carver.
- Jewel, Homer, singer and poet.
- Sydney Laurence, Anchorage, painter.
- Barbara Lavallee, Anchorage, painter and writer.
- Ray Mala, Candle, movie star.
- Fred Machetanz, Palmer, painter. (Died in 2002.)
- Rie Munoz, Juneau, painter.
- Gail Niebrugge, Palmer, painter.
- Richard Nelson, Sitka, anthropologist and nature writer.
- Pamyua, Anchorage, Nammy-winning quartet of singers.
- Dana Stabenow, Anchorage, mystery writer.
- John Straley, Sitka, mystery writer.
- Ray Troll, Ketchikan, painter.
- Jon Van Zyle, Birchwood, painter.
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