Matt Cooper, a longtime Alaskan attorney and former left-of-center Fairbanks Assemblyman, was appointed by the University of Alaska Board of Regents to become the system’s 18th president. The announcement was made on May 1.

He will take office on August 3, succeeding the retiring President Pat Pitney.

Cooper is the former top legal advisor for the University of Alaska and has spent more than a dozen years working for the system in various legal capacities.

Prior to and overlapping with his UA legal career, Cooper was actively involved in local politics in the Fairbanks Borough, where he served on the Assembly from 2015 to 2022, regularly siding with the left-leaning majority.

During his time on the Fairbanks Assembly, Cooper supported a borough resolution creating a Climate Change Task Force and co-sponsored a failed ordinance to establish ranked-choice voting for all Fairbanks North Star Borough elections.

After public backlash, the RCV ordinance was ultimately withdrawn.

In 2023, Cooper regularly sided with leftist Assembly members, including an effort to keep local elections in October, rather than move them to November to align with state and federal election timelines. This opposed efforts by conservatives who favor aligning elections in order to increase voter turnout.

A longtime Fairbanks resident, Cooper has served on the boards of the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and the KUAC Friends Group and is a member of the Fairbanks Rotary Club. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law. Click here to see his full resume.

As president of the University of Alaska, he will oversee university operations around the state, including the three main sites in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Southeast, as well as 11 community campuses, research institutes, and outreach centers.

Cooper will be responsible for carrying out the Board of Regents’ policies and directives while leading the entire system. His total compensation package will be $429,000 (excluding benefits).

Current President Pat Pitney is set to retire on May 21, upon which time Vice President of University Relations Michelle Rizk will serve as interim president during the transition.

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