The University of Alaska Board of Regents selected Matthew Cooper, the system’s former general counsel, as its 18th president.

Cooper will succeed President Pat Pitney, who is retiring, and will begin Aug. 3, 2026.

Board Chair Scott Jepsen announced the appointment Friday, citing Cooper’s experience with the university, including work on the UA Land Grant Initiative.

University of Alaska staff voted decisively to unionize, with 1,106 in favor and 610 against, marking a major victory for workers. As a result, a union called CAUSE-UAW will now represent staff in negotiations over better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

University of Alaska President Pat Pitney discussed the progress and growth UA has made in reversing enrollment declines, creating more research opportunities, funding scholarships and more at the last State of the University Address before her upcoming retirement in May. Pitney gave her speech at a hotel with the Rotary Club of Fairbanks March 19.

Facing rising enrollment, housing shortages and mounting graduate worker concerns, the University of Alaska Board of Regents spent the week advancing major construction projects, reviewing tuition increases and hearing student calls for health insurance stability. 

A lawsuit filed in state court against the University of Alaska in January claims the institution mishandled a Title IX discrimination investigation, harming a University of Alaska Fairbanks grad student’s professional life, emotional and psychological well-being.  

The case points to a larger theme of Title IX violations within the UA system, referencing the 2017 finding by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which determined through a four-year compliance review that UA violated Title IX in its response to sexual harassment complaints, including complaints of sexual assault and sexual violence and failing to protect its students and staff from discrimination on the basis of sex.  

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prevents sex discrimination in education. It covers all behaviors within university programs and activities. 

Last Tuesday, University of Alaska President Pat Pitney presented the system’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the House Finance University of Alaska Subcommittee, emphasizing institutional stability, workforce development, compensation shortfalls, continued investment in research, and a pending unionization vote involving thousands of nonunion employees.

Pat Pitney, University of Alaska system president, announced her retirement Thursday morning in an email to UA students and staff. Pitney has been in this role since August 1, 2020.

Pitney was working as the financial director for the legislature when she got a call on a Thursday night five years ago.