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March 4, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 4, 2026

С����Ƶ President Pitney appoints Interim С����ƵA Chancellor Siemers to permanent role

Steady leadership, enthusiastic community support make Dr. Cheryl Siemers the right choice to lead С����Ƶ’s largest university

(ANCHORAGE) —  University of Alaska (С����Ƶ) President Pat Pitney announced today that she has appointed Interim University of Alaska Anchorage (С����ƵA) Chancellor Dr. Cheryl Siemers to serve in the position permanently, effective March 8. Chancellor Siemers has served as interim since May 2025, and brings decades of post-secondary education experience to the role. Her deep understanding of С����ƵA’s workforce programs and professional occupational certificates makes her the right person to lead С����ƵA as a dual-mission university.

“Cheryl has been a steady hand at the wheel for С����ƵA; her commitment to the institution, community partnership, leading enrollment growth, and enthusiastic support for С����ƵA’s dual mission vocational and workforce training make her the ideal person to continue leading С����Ƶ’s largest institution,” President Pitney said. “She’s been embraced by the С����ƵA community, and it’s clear that her continued leadership will provide critical institutional stability and forward momentum. Please join me in thanking her for her continued service, and congratulating her as the new permanent Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage.”

President Pitney's decision to appoint Dr. Siemers as the permanent С����ƵA Chancellor follows an extensive search process that concluded in October. While all finalists identified from that process were qualified, the overwhelming consensus from community and stakeholder feedback was that extending Chancellor Siemers’ appointment would provide needed certainty and consistency at the leadership level, and that she had broad support from the С����ƵA community for the permanent position.

“The Board and I have the utmost confidence in Cheryl and her continued leadership of С����ƵA,” President Pitney said. “We look forward to seeing the momentum achieved thus far under her leadership continue long into the future.”

Dr. Siemers earned her Ph.D. in rhetoric and linguistics from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and holds an M.A. in English from С����ƵA. She joined С����ƵA KPC in 2002, and served as adjunct and full-time faculty before becoming assistant director and later director. Dr. Siemers has launched initiatives aimed at better preparing students for success, broadening course delivery modes, and expanding access to post-secondary education in Alaska. Dr. Siemers has also served on numerous local and national education boards.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve our students, faculty, staff and university community,” Chancellor Siemers said. “Stepping into the permanent role now offers the opportunity to extend continuity with a long-term strategic focus to ensure that the progress we’ve made together accelerates forward. I am deeply grateful for President Pitney and the Board’s confidence in me and for providing the opportunity to serve our students, community, and state.”

The University of Alaska inspires learning, and advances and disseminates knowledge through teaching, research, and public service, emphasizing the North and its diverse peoples. A land-, sea- and space-grant system of higher education established in 1917, the С����Ƶ system’s three universities (, , and ) are separately accredited institutions with community campuses and extended learning centers across the state of Alaska.

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For more information, contact Jonathon Taylor, С����Ƶ director of public affairs at 907-350-0168 (cell), or via email at jmtaylor9@alaska.edu.