Jane Angvik
Over the past four decades, Jane Angvik has been involved in community development, resource management, and citizen engagement across Alaska. Throughout her time here, Jane has practiced tikkun olam, repair of the world.
Jane was raised in Minnesota by a conservative Norwegian Republican father and a liberal Irish Democratic mother who civilly debated current affairs at dinner. Her parents said that with education and hard work, she and her four siblings could accomplish whatever they dreamt of.
Motivated by the civil rights movement, Jane went to work at Minneapolis Model Cities after earning a BA in Urban Studies and a Harvard MA in Public Administration. She was lured to Alaska in 1973 by the outdoors, drawn by visions of hiking, skiing, and kayaking with her sister Peggy, who already lived in Anchorage. Jane’s first job in Alaska was community planner for the Greater Anchorage Area Borough. Next, she was hired by the Alaska Federation of Natives, where her understanding of Alaska was greatly expanded. As she sipped tea in tiny kitchens and at fish camps, Jane developed respect for the values and cultures of Alaska Native peoples. 
Anchorage Daily News (Oct. 10, 1979)
While at AFN, Jane was elected to the Anchorage Charter Commission and later served six years on the Anchorage Assembly. She was the first woman elected Assembly Chair.
In 1982, Jane managed the successful statewide campaign to retain the Alaska subsistence law. She then directed the Alaska Native Foundation for several years, and later helped develop the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Angvik held positions with three governors. She worked for Jay Hammond, on the Alaska Public Forum, was Commerce Commissioner for Steve Cowper and was Director of Land and Waters for Tony Knowles. Jane has also been active in recruiting and training women to run for elected office. She helped develop the Alaska Women’s Political Caucus and Alaska Women Ascend. She served on the Board of Directors of AWAIC, STAR, Planned Parenthood, and the Girl Scouts of Alaska, where she led efforts for a new STEM facility. She was inducted into Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame and Athena Society. 
Jane brings people together. She believes we are all strengthened when we enhance peoples’ voices in decision-making about their family, their neighborhoods, their villages, their regions, and their state.
Jane has been happily married to Vic Fischer for 40 years. They raised their successful daughter Ruth, and they delight in time with their eight grandchildren. They maintain close relations with family and friends across the globe. Vic and Jane often work together on public policy issues. Thus, they are a joyful team in all parts of their lives.
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Vic Fischer
Vic Fischer came to Alaska when he was 26 years old. Throughout the intervening 70 years, Vic has put into practice his basic values: respect for individual rights, opposition to discrimination, and dedication to those without power. His life has been devoted to tikkun olam, repairing the world.
Vic was born in 1924 in Berlin, Germany, and spent his childhood there and in Russia. As the Stalin terror spread through Russia, their mother Markoosha, who was a Soviet citizen, applied for permission to leave the country and join her husband in America. But the KGB turned her down. Vic’s father Louis, a prominent American foreign correspondent and author, enlisted the help of Eleanor Roosevelt and got mother Markoosha, Victor, and his brother George out of Russia. An early surprise in Vic’s American journey was a White House dinner with President and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt near his 15th birthday. She sat to Vic’s left at a large round table, and FDR to her left. It was quite a stark contrast to life in Moscow. Father Louis had admonished his sons to watch how others used their utensils so as to avoid any faux pas. After serving with the U.S. Army in France, Germany, and the Philippines during WWII, Vic graduated from the University of Wisconsin and earned a master’s in city planning from MIT. He moved to Alaska in 1950 and spent his early years in townsite planning with BLM and becoming Anchorage’s first planning director. Active in the fight for statehood, Vic was elected delegate to the 1955 Alaska Constitutional Convention. There he played a key role in creating Alaska’s unique local government system. 
Signing the Alaska Constitution (Feb. 1956)
Next he served in Alaska’s last territorial legislature, where he successfully co-sponsored abolishing the death penalty in Alaska.
After a year at Harvard, Vic spent four years at HUD in Washington, D.C., coordinating metropolitan development around the U.S. Fortunately, his work there included oversight of reconstruction in Southcentral Alaska after the 1964 earthquake. In 1966, Alaska lured him back to take over the University’s new Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). In his decade leading ISER, Vic built it into a powerhouse of respected, credible, science-backed research. 
Vic with Senate staff members, 1982
As a State Senator in 1981-86, Vic’s priorities were women’s rights, reducing domestic violence, and policies to support the poor and the vulnerable. His legislative credits include Alaska’s personal use fishery, permanent fund dividends, and mandatory car seats for children.
Vic had remained fluent in Russian, his first language. With the melting of the Ice Curtain, there was tremendous interest in scientific collaboration. To facilitate that, the University of Alaska created the position of Director of Russian Affairs for Vic.
Vic continues to be actively engaged in Alaska public policy issues. His personal commitment to enhance the future of Alaska guided his efforts to lead ballot propositions in 2014 and 2020. He continues to be an optimist who believes community engagement can and will change the world.
Photo by Clark Mishler
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