Meet Governor Dunleavy

Governor Mike Dunleavy arrived in Alaska in 1983 as a young man looking for opportunity, and he found it. His first job was working in a logging camp in Southeast Alaska. Later on, Governor Dunleavy pursued his dream of becoming a teacher. He earned his teacher’s certificate, and then a Master of Education degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He spent nearly two decades in northwest Arctic communities working as a teacher, principal, and superintendent.

Governor Dunleavy and his family moved to Wasilla in 2004, where he owned an educational consulting firm and worked on several educational projects statewide. Dunleavy served on the Mat-Su Borough School Board, with two years as Board President, and then as a state senator for five years.

Dunleavy was first elected Governor in 2018 and then again in 2022, making him the first Republican Governor in Alaska to win re-election since 1978. Three days before taking office in 2018, a massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Southcentral Alaska, causing significant damage throughout the region. Eight months later, much of Alaska was on fire, with a total of 2.6 million acres burning that summer. Six months after that, on January 28, 2020, the first plane carrying 201 American evacuees from Wuhan China touched down at the Ted Stevens Airport in Anchorage. State of Alaska officials were given very little warning to prepare to conduct health screenings for a little-understood virus that had yet to be named.  It was an eventful first year in office for Governor Dunleavy and it did not slow down. But through it all, he has kept the health of the economy and jobs at the forefront of his Administration’s policy setting initiatives and has been a true champion for the Alaskan business community.

Governor Dunleavy’s wife Rose is from the Kobuk River Valley community of Noorvik. Together, they have three children – Maggie, Catherine, and Ceil – who were raised in both rural and urban Alaska.

The Dunleavy’s enjoy spending time together as a family, often in Alaska’s great outdoors. Hunting, fishing, snowmachining, and camping are all favorite activities.

Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward and believes that our greatest years are yet to come if we work together to maximize our potential.