VERA ALEXANDER
Inducted: 2024
Deceased: 2023
VERA ALEXANDER
Researcher, administrator, ambassador–externally define Vera Alexander. But pianist, lover of animals, and outdoors adventurer also define her as did beloved mother and grandmother.
Born in Hungary of Jewish and Catholic parents, young Alexander and her family fled to rural wartime England in 1939. She and her family emigrated to the United States after the war. Her English education and social refinement characterized the rest of her life.
She began her university education, initially at the University of Wisconsin Madison, then at the University of Alaska where she became the first female Ph.D.
Alexander married UW Madison fellow student Richard (Dick) Dugdale. They went on to have two children, Graham Dugdale and Elizabeth Dugdale.
Her scientific interest in marine science began investigating water in Smith Lake on the UAF campus, followed by tundra water at the Toolik Research Station, and then Bering Sea ocean water. She was instrumental in the creation of the Seward-based, ice-strengthened research vessel “Sikuliaq” (Inupiaq for “young sea ice”) for North Pacific marine sciences research.
Alexander played a significant ambassadorial role in establishing national and international marine science policies.
With dignity and grace, Alexander crashed “ice ceilings” and proved to be a model for not only women in science, but also female academic administrators. She opened the door to research laboratories and ships which previously would not accept women.
Her international stature was acknowledged by invitations to pursue her interests as a visiting professor at the University of Turku, Finland, and at the National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan.
In retirement, Alexander loved her horses and animal-rescue pets and practiced piano as Dvorak’s “Hungarian Dances” wafted through the air. Attesting to her cultivated taste, Alexander was also elected as a Fellow in the Academy of Malt Scotch Whisky in 1980.
View Extended Bio