19 Facts About Fran Ulmer

Frances Ann "Fran" Ulmer was born on February 1,1947 and is an American administrator and Democratic politician from the US state of Alaska.

Fran Ulmer served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002 under Governor Tony Knowles, becoming the first woman elected to statewide office in Alaska, and lost the 2002 gubernatorial election against Republican Frank Murkowski.

Frances Ann "Fran" Ulmer was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and grew up in Horicon, Wisconsin.

Fran Ulmer's parents owned a furniture store and a funeral home in the area.

In 2018, Fran was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Fran Ulmer first began working in Alaska in 1973 as a lawyer at the Legislative Affairs Agency in Juneau, Alaska.

Fran Ulmer worked as a legislative assistant for Jay Hammond, the Republican governor of Alaska from 1975 through 1977.

Fran Ulmer appointed her Director of Policy Development and Planning that year, a role she held until 1981.

Fran Ulmer served on Juneau's Planning and Zoning Commission from 1981 to 1983.

Fran Ulmer served as mayor of Juneau from 1983 to 1985 and was in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994 as a Democrat, where she sponsored and won approval of legislation concerning criminal justice, education, public administration, health, and transportation.

Fran Ulmer was elected to two four-year terms on the Democratic ticket, along with Governor Tony Knowles.

Fran Ulmer lost the election to the Republican candidate, US Senator Frank Murkowski.

In 2003, Fran Ulmer was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics in Cambridge, MA.

Fran Ulmer served as the Director of the Institute of Economic and Social Research at UAA.

At the national level, Fran Ulmer served as a member of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission for ten years, on the Federal Communications Commission's State and Local Advisory Committee, the Federal Election Commission's State Advisory Committee, and as co-chair of the Aspen Institute's Arctic Climate Change Commission.

Fran Ulmer served on the boards of The Nature Conservancy, First National Bank Alaska, the CIRI Foundation, Commonwealth North, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and she chaired the global board of The Nature Conservancy.

Fran Ulmer currently serves on the National Parks Conservation Association Board and the Alaska Trustees of The Nature Conservancy.

In July 2014, Fran Ulmer was appointed a special advisor to John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, on arctic issues.

Fran Ulmer endorsed the building of more icebreakers to allow the United States Coast Guard to better research the arctic.