Bill Sheffield to be awarded honorary doctorate by UAA

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The University of Alaska Anchorage will award Democrat Gov. Bill Sheffield an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the Fall 2020 commencement ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Born in Silverdale, Washington, Sheffield served in the United States Airforce during World War II, worked as a sales and service representative for Sears Roebuck, and was transferred by Sears to Alaska in 1953. He went into the hospitality business, establishing the Anchorage Inn. Eventually, Sheffield bought out his business partner, expanded his hotel holdings and grew his hotel empire to 19 properties in Alaska and the Yukon territories.

He was elected the fifth governor in 1982, and served one term. During his tenure, he oversaw massive infrastructure projects, including roads and water systems. He pushed through an unpopular bill that consolidated the state’s four time zones into two and is responsible for creating Alaska Standard Time. Sheffield also helped facilitate the purchase of the Alaska Railroad from the federal government and commissioned the construction of Spring Creek Correctional Facility in Seward.

During his tenure, he faced Senate impeachment hearings over an award of a $9.1 million noncompetitive lease to a company that was partly owned by a friend of Sheffield’s, Lenny Arsenault. In 2018, he authored a memoir, Bill Sheffield: a memoir, from the great depression to the Alaska governor’s mansion and beyond.

Sheffield is 90 and lives in Anchorage at a home that has been the location of many a political fundraisers for candidates from both sides of the aisle. He was recently spotted getting exercise at the Midtown Mall.

Read about the other honorees at this UAA link.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Despite the recent happy vibe surrounding the hosting of fundraisers for Republicans, it should be remembered that Mr. Sheffield was a virulently partisan governor and that some – but not all- of his minions were the same.

  2. Bill Sheffield is a crook. This was proven in 1985/86 when he was outed for financially benefiting from his real estate deals in Fairbanks, while serving as governor. The voters knew it too, and dumped him in the 1986 Democrat primary. Why do we honor millionaire Democrat crooks?

      • Come on…….this is a no-brainer. The U of A doesn’t care which millionaire crook gets the honorary
        doctorate. Just as long as that crook leaves behind a huge pile of cash to the UA legacy foundation. Why not give dumb Sheffield the doctor’s certificate, then rape his bank account before he stumbles off the stage. UA needs money to pay for all of those overpaid, idiot deputy directors and their Marxist professors.

        • Artful Dog gets it. Let the UA give the idiot Bill Walker an honorarium too. He can use the corrupt funds at Brenna/Walker Law to pour into UA system. Dr. Walker, the fraud, child molesting enabler, former governor of Alaska. His soul mate, Byron Mallott would be proud.

          • Byron probably informed Bill of all the desires that old men seek late in life. Young women, control and dominion over others, last ditch efforts to acquire property through ill-begotten methods that only old men can employ. Yes, Walker and Mallott were soul brothers…. yolked by fantasies of old men who figure they have one crime remaining that they can commit, before time runs out. Walker better hurry so he can join his soul mate, Byron. His 72 are waiting.

  3. Because they can. He survived a close brush with impeachment, advanced an airport train station in Anchorage that is lightly used (and closed off by the average joe – to be used only for tourists – 2 round trips a wk. for 18 weeks of summer) and he ran the Port of Anchorage when a disastrous expansion project wasted at least $125 million. CEO of the ARR Corp. 1997-2000 – his leadership was marred by numerous derailments starting in 1999 -resulting in over 200,000 gallons of fuel released to the lands of the State.

    In the end, Sheffield never got impeached or fired. When he resigned from the Port in 2011, at 83, he received a $60,000 consulting contract [as a “federal liaison” with excellent federal leadership connections] from then Mayor Dan Sullivan to continue work on the project – that he was formerly in charge of.

    Sullivan was present for the resignation announcement. It happened at a fundraiser for him at Sheffield’s house. SO, why not give him an honorary UAA doctorate for all that and more? Alaska’s own Teflon Bill.

  4. Such cynicism lives here on MRAK. Do you folks ever have a positive, affirming thought?

    This guy started from the bottom, served his country, started and grew businesses, and was elected Governor. What have you all done? Not nearly as much, I’d bet. I know jealousy when I see it.

    Give the guy some credit.

    Geez.

    • Woof woof. Credit earned and deserved by the exorbitantly paid University brass. Corrupt people who live on public money love to slap each other on the back and give out meaningless honorariums. It’s the way of Leftist Democrats.

  5. I hope UAA gives him an Honorary Degree in Public Administration. That would be rich – honor a guy who wasted hundreds of millions of dollars of public money on a failed dock expansion project, to name just one of his failures!.

  6. Don’t these old codgers, like Sheffield, get tired of receiving kudos from the Democrats? For God sakes, he’s 90 something. What could an honorary doctorate possibly mean to him at the end of his days?
    Will his headstone say, “Here lies Dr. Sheffield. Earned his PhD at 93.”

    • NO! It wasn’t earned. It was “awarded.” HUGE difference. Sheffield didn’t have the brains or discipline to have earned a doctorate.

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