ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ

Karen Perdue

Regent, Vice Chair of the Board

204 Front Street Fairbanks, AK 99701

Term: 2017-2025

Karen Perdue, vice chair of the board, was appointed in 2017 by Governor Walker. She is a lifelong ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵn with a background in health care, public policy and interests in the history and culture of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ.

Regent Perdue is a graduate of Stanford University. She is semi-retired, focusing her work on critical public health issues and serves on the board of the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Most recently she represented the interests of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ’s hospitals and nursing homes as the CEO of the ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ Hospital and Nursing Home Association. She served a decade as the Associate Vice President of Health Programs at the University of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ working with industry, chancellors and faculty in the expansion of the nursing, medical education, pharmacy, therapies and behavioral health academic programs.

She served as Commissioner of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Department of Health and Social Services for eight years - the longest serving health commissioner since statehood.  During her commissionership, the state launched the Medicaid waiver system, closed institutions that serve the developmentally disabled and implemented Denali KidCare.

She served as a congressional aide and press secretary to Senator Ted Stevens.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Rural Mental Health Association Victor Howery Award and the ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ Historical Society for her role in the Lost ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵns Morningside Project, which traced the history of mental health care in territorial ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ and the ancestral information of over 5,000 ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵns sent outside for care. She has been honored by both the Girl and Boy Scouts as a Distinguished citizen.

Photo by JR Ancheta, University of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ Fairbanks