Dr. Vera Alexander

1932 - 2023

Dr. Vera Alexander, 90, of Fairbanks, Alaska, passed having lived a life full of adventure and discovery.

A beloved mother, grandmother, friend, scientist, musician, horse woman, and rescuer of animals (and humans), Vera was born in 1932 to Paul Alexander, a Jewish father, and Irene Alexander, a Catholic mother, in Budapest, Hungary.

Her family fled Hungary to England in 1939 just as the forces of darkness advanced on Eastern Europe. They settled in the forested hills of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, where 7-year-old Vera trained her terrier Tigger to pull a cart, selling duck eggs to neighbors during the war. As a teenager she enjoyed riding through the countryside on a pony named Cobweb, her first of many horses. Vera also developed a life-long love of the musical arts. She earned firsts in music composition at the Berkhamsted School for Girls and passed the Royal Academy of Music (London) piano performance exam.

When her family emigrated to Princeton, New Jersey, after the war, Vera enrolled in the University of Wisconsin Madison's Animal Husbandry program. However, she fell in with the biology crowd when she joined the Wisconsin Hoofers climbing club and changed her degree to earn a B.S. in biology and an M.S. in zoology. She married fellow student and Hoofer Richard (Dick) Dugdale. Vera and Dick went on to have two children, Graham Dugdale and Elizabeth Dugdale.

Vera and Dick were driven scientists who dreamed of adventure. After multiple research trips to Alaska, they moved to Fairbanks in 1963, but divorced several years later. In 1965, Vera was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She pursued field science, became the director of Institute of Marine Science, and the first dean of the College of Ocean Sciences and Fisheries.

Her distinguished scholarship, stewardship of marine science and influence in marine policy, has been recognized and honored nationally and internationally. Among her many achievements were 16 years of service on the Marine Mammal Commission, 12 years on the International Scientific Steering Committee of the Census of Marine Life, service as a founder, delegate and chair of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization, and the development and launch of the Research Vessel Sikuliaq.

Throughout her life, many dogs, cats and horses adopted her and she in turn nurtured them. She returned to her love of the piano by studying with James Johnson, music professor, showing off her skills on the concert stage and as the first accompanist for the Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre (FLOT). She was also a devoted member of College Rotary and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks.

Vera was predeceased by her sister, Catherine Alexander, and her brother, Robin Alexander. She is survived by her son, Graham Dugdale (Elizabeth Benson), and their daughter Zoe Dugdale (Neilan Pierce, Jr.); daughter, Elizabeth Alexander and her children Celia Jackson (Rob Wolter, Jr.) and Everett Jackson (Kara Epple); horses, Vinur and Vangeur; dog, Lady Byrne; cat, Arne; and many cherished extended family members, including close friends and colleagues. A celebration of life will be held on June 11 at UAF's Georgeson Botanical Garden at 1 p.m.