Pat Pitney

Pat Spurgin

Pat Spurgin in 1984
Personal information
Birth name	Karen Patricia Spurgin
Born	August 10, 1965 (1965-08-10) (age 56) Billings, Montana, U.S.
Medal record Women's shooting Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Air rifle

Karen Patricia "Pat" Pitney (née Spurgin, born August 10, 1965) is an American university president and sport shooter, now living in Fairbanks, Alaska. Born in Billings, Montana, she competed and won a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics.^[1][2] She became the first Olympic Champion in Air Rifle for Women, at the time being an 18-year-old student at Murray State University, Kentucky. She earned a degree in engineering physics from Murray State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.^[3] She is the interim president of the University of Alaska system.

Pitney volunteered as an assistant coach for the Alaska Nanooks at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for almost two decades.^[4] The team won nine NCAA Rifle Championships during that time.^[5]

The Pat Spurgin Rifle Range at Murray State University is named after her.^[6]

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games[]

Pitney was a torchbearer for the Sochi 2014 Olympics torch relay. She traveled 3,100 miles on the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy to the North Pole, where the crew ignited a cauldron with the Olympic torch.^[7]

University of Alaska[]

Pitney held administrative positions at the University of Alaska for 23 years.^[8] From 2008 to 2014, she was the vice chancellor for administrative services at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. While vice chancellor, she also served as finance vice president for the University of the Arctic, starting in 2012.^[9][10]

State of Alaska[]

In December 2014, newly elected Alaska Governor Bill Walker appointed Pitney as director of the Office of Management and Budget^[11] During the 2014-2018 Walker administration, Pitney focused on managing the impact of collapsing oil prices on the Alaska state budget.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]} Pitney then became director of the state of Alaska's Legislative Finance Division in January 2020.^[18]

Interim University of Alaska President[]

Pitney became interim president of the University of Alaska system on 1 August 2020. She succeeded acting President Michelle Rizk, who had stepped in after the resignation of President Jim Johnsen on 22 June.^[3] Pitney will serve until the selection of a permanent university president. The selection process will begin in the spring of 2022 ^[19] and is expected to be completed by 2023.^[20]

Pitney inherited an ongoing downsizing of the university system in response to a three-year program of scheduled reductions in financial support from the state of Alaska. Her presidency began at the start of the second year of the reductions. To compensate for reduced funding from the state, Pitney has pursued external grants for research programs, completion of the University of Alaska's federal land grant endowment^[20] and private philanthropists.^[21] In the face of budget cuts, Pitney has pushed forward the Alaska Native Success Initiative, which increases the involvement of Alaskan native students and faculty in University academics.^[20]

Pitney's presidency of the university system has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down most on-campus activities in the spring of 2020 in favor of remote instruction. Her administration is gradually reopening those on-campus activities, with all in-person classes cautiously resuming in the fall of 2021.^[22]

Legacy[]

Pitney has been inducted into the USA Shooting Hall of fame.^[23]

References[]

External links[]

• Meet the President: Interim President Pat Pitney at the University of Alaska
• Pat Spurgin at Olympedia
• Pat Spurgin at databaseOlympics.com (archived)