UAA celebrates its 50th anniversary: the University of Alaska Anchorage honors its past while looking to the future.

• Author: Martin, Gary L.

Feb. 6 marked the golden anniversary for the University of Alaska Anchorage. The evening ceremony took place at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium, and the guest speaker was Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, who wrote "Angela's Ashes." The celebration also featured a video history of UAA that expanded its 50-year history.

The largest university in the state also remembered its humble beginnings, which began in 1954 as Anchorage Community College. Those days were so humble and the college's existence was so meager that there was no campus. Students attended classes in area military and high school classrooms.

The first commencement ceremony was held in 1956 with a graduating class of one--Vincent Earl Demarest. He earned an associate of arts degree in business administration. ACC offered primarily academic and business-related courses to people looking for either a first job or wanting to update their academic skills. And as a community college, it was part of the Greater Anchorage Area Borough School District, and it had 385 students enrolled.

Feb. 8, 1970, was another noteworthy date in the history of the university. It was the dedication of its present campus on Providence Drive. The university also moved from West High School into its first five new buildings that made up the campus.

The following year, Anchorage Senior College was established. It offered graduate courses; that year 265 diplomas were presented, including master's, bachelor's and associate of arts degrees.

During last year's commencement ceremony, 1,334 students received degrees: 159 were master's, 766 were bachelor's and 409 were associate of arts degrees.

The university is proud of its student body and takes special pride in its diversity, according to John Dede, director of marketing and communications at UAA. Two years ago, more than 25 percent of some 13,600 students at the university came from a variety of ethnic groups. They included African American, Alaska Native, American Indian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander and Asian.

Due to Alaska's geographic proximity to Russia, the university has many Russian students in its programs. "We have the largest number of Russian students of any other university in the country," said Dede, "That helps out quite a bit in teaching our students about the global aspects of education."

UAA came into full blossom in 1974 when Anchorage Senior College became the University of Alaska Anchorage, receiving full accreditation from the...