Nancy Gore Murkowski, First Lady, State of Alaska      

Nancy Murkowski, a life-long Alaskan, was born in Nome, where her father was the Federal Judge for the Territory of Alaska. She was raised in and attended secondary school in Ketchikan, Alaska. She attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif.

Having maintained homes in Washington, D.C. and in Fairbanks, Alaska during her husband’s twenty years of service in the United States Senate, they are happy to be living in the Governor’s House in Juneau. It brings them home to Alaska and closer to many of their six grown children and 12 grandchildren.

Much of the first lady’s focus has been centered around cancer awareness. She helped found the Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska in Fairbanks, Alaska. She has been a member of the Congressional Families for Breast Cancer Awareness; an Honorary Chair of the Alaska Breast Cancer Coalition; and on the Executive Board of the Congressional Families for Cancer Awareness Foundation. She is a former Chairman for the Congressional Families for Drug Free Youth; former member of the Senate Spouses Red Cross Unit. She is a member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Auxiliary 4.

An active fundraiser in the Washington, D.C. area, she served as former Chairman for the 1997 March of Dimes gala in Washington, Chairman for the 1993 Ambassadors Ball to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Washington, Co-Chairman of the CARE Ball for 2000 and 2001 and was a member of the Medical Affairs Development Council at the University of Washington. With her husband, she served for several years as Honorary Alaska State Chairmen of the Red Ribbon Campaign, an anti-drug abuse program.

In 1998, she won the sixth annual Action for Cancer Awareness Award from the Cancer Research Foundation of America for her efforts. She was the 1996 recipient of the Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center’s “Symbol of Caring” award for her work in this area.

As First Lady, she continues her support to the cause of breast cancer detection. She served as the Honorary Co-chair of the Children with Special Health Care Needs Summit; as Honorary State Chair of the Child Abuse Prevention Network; Honorary Chair to the Friends of the Alaska Children's Trust, and she hosts annual event in support of literacy and volunteerism. She serves on the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism First Spouses Leadership Committee as a spokesperson to raise public awareness to early childhood drinking and to prevent alcohol use by children 9 to 15 years of age; and is Co-chair of the American Red Cross of Alaska Disaster Cabinet.


Also See
  •  History of the Governor's House
  •  Nancy's Newsletters