Pat Pitney: President of the University of Alaska System

Send us Fan Mail Pat Pitney is the President of the University of Alaska System. Growing up in Montana, she started shooting guns at an early age. At age 18 she won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles becoming the first Olympic champion in air rifle for women. She competed on the international riflery circuit until 1988 when she married an Alaskan, relocated to Fairbanks, and started a family. She began work at the University then, and, 34 years later, she will be retiring from the University system this May. In 2014, she became the director of the office of management and budget (OMB) for Governor Bill Walker. She oversaw state finances as at a particularly turbulent time in our history and we discuss that time today as well the efforts to reform Alaska's healthcare system.