April 25th, 2008
Information Insights Principal Consultant and CFO Brian Rogers has been named the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Interim Chancellor. He will be stepping down from his position at Information Insights to take the two year position, replacing outgoing Chancellor Steve Jones.
In a press release, University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton said of his choice for the position, “Brian’s background in management and finance at the statewide level and as a former regent and state lawmaker make him particularly well-suited for the interim chancellor position. Ultimately, I chose Brian because I believe he’ll do the best job leading this institution.”
Hamilton said the two-year period is necessary to ensure the interim chancellor can fully focus on the 2010 budget process, already under way. It also allows for flexibility to conduct a national search, a process that can take up to a year to complete.
Brian attended UAF himself from 1970-72. As a student, he served as editor of UAF’s student paper, the Polar Star, for fall 1972, and ran a lemonade truck, the Lemon Tree, on campus during the summers of 1971-73. He dropped out of UAF but later went on to attend Trinity College and Brown University, then received a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Brian was elected to the State House in 1978, and served as chair of the House Finance subcommittee on the UA budget from 1979 to 1981, and was a member of the same in 1982. He was Budget Director at UA from 1984 to 1987, and Vice President for Finance from 1988 to 1995. He served on the UA Board of Regents from 1999 to 2007, and was its chair for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Of these roles, he says, “I’ve been committed to higher education throughout — there is a thread that connects them all. Each had an influence on my ability to do this job [as interim chancellor].”
Brian says he is excited to serve an institution he’s been involved with now for four decades. He said he intends to solicit ideas and involvement from faculty, staff, students and the communities UAF serves. Though there is a limited amount that an interim chancellor can accomplish, Brian believes he can effectively make an impact on connecting campuses to the communities they serve in the next two years.
“I’ll rely heavily on UAF’s outstanding faculty to ensure we maintain our high standards in research, teaching and public service,” Brian said. “UAF is a complex enterprise, with an amazing diversity of faculty and staff. I plan to work with these groups to ensure we receive the financial and community support needed for the quality education and workforce training our students deserve. Our state, nation and world also depend on the important research conducted here, in a wide variety of disciplines, including energy and global climate change, the biological sciences and many other areas specific to the circumpolar north.”
He cites his work in his 12.5 years at Information Insights as particularly valuable to his new position for the experience it has given him in working with many stakeholders and understanding a variety of information flows.