University of Alaska Anchorage receives 2 large donations totaling $16 million

The University of Alaska Anchorage announced it has received two significant donations adding up to $16 million.

UAA said this week that it is receiving more than $1 million from alumnus Gary Klopfer and his wife, Jane Cuddy Klopfer, to create a student investment fund for UAA’s College of Business and Public Policy.

Caroline “Carrie” E.B. Lewis also recently left $15 million for UAA to fund two endowments. One supports first-generation college students and the other assists success initiatives at the university.

John Nofsinger, interim dean of the College of Business and Public Policy, said in an announcement the $1 million from the Klopfers will be used to allow students to manage an investment portfolio, as well as encounter scenarios they’ll find on the job.

The number of scholarships awarded will increase as the portfolio grows, Nofsinger said.

Gary Klopfer graduated from UAA in 1981. The Klopfers previously owned the downtown Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Co., which they sold in 2015 to 49th State Brewing Co.

The donation from the Klopfers is the largest individual gift an alum has given to UAA in their lifetime, the university said.

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Lewis, who died in November at age 90, was a longtime anonymous donor who created a scholarship fund for first-generation students at UAA and also established the Alaska Endowment for Excellence fund, the university said in an announcement last month.

Lewis’ donation is the largest estate gift given in UAA’s history, the university said.

UAA said examples of how the funds will be used include initiatives helping first-generation students, and a program encouraging lower-cost textbooks and resources.