List of mayors of Fairbanks, Alaska explained

The following provides a listing of the individuals who have served as mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska,^[1] as well as the ten mayors of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, a county equivalent which includes the city.

Fairbanks, a home rule city in the U.S. state of Alaska, was founded in 1901. Fairbanks was incorporated as a town on November 10, 1903, pursuant to the original laws allowing for communities in Alaska to incorporate. Following changes in those laws during the latter territorial era, Fairbanks began its current designation as a city ca. 1950. When statehood became effective for Alaska in 1959, the Alaska Constitution provided for home rule, a status the citizens of Fairbanks ratified the following year.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough, which encompasses the city and several surrounding towns and villages, was established by an act of the Alaska State Legislature in 1963 (Chapter 52, Session Laws of Alaska 1963), and incorporated on January 1, 1964. The borough seat is in Fairbanks.

Mayors of City of Fairbanks

The city mayor was originally elected from amongst the council. This was later changed to the mayor being elected separately by voters for a two-year term, but serving as a figurehead, as the city was administered by a manager. The mayor began serving as the chief administrator of city government, serving a three-year term, in 1992.

Nr.	Name	Term start	Term end
1	E. T. Barnette	1903	1906
2	B.D. Mills	1906	1907
3	J. Barrack	1907	1908
4	Fred Carter	1908	1909
5	Joseph Smith	1909	1909
6	Mel Sabin	1909	1910
7	A.J. Nordale	1910	1911
8	F.S. Gordon	1911	1912
9	Dan Driscoll	1912	1913
10	E.C. Heacock	1913	1913
11	Murray C. Smith^[2]	1913	1915
12	Andrew Nerland	1915	1916
13	R.R. Meyers	1916	1917
14	G.M. Smith	1917	1917
15	Henry T. Ray	1917	1918
16	E.E. Suter	1918	1919
17	A.L. Wilbur	1919	1921
18	C.H. Woodward	1921	1922
19	R.W. Ferguson	1922	1923
20	Thomas A. Marquam	1923	1925
21	Dr. Frank De La Vergne	1925	1931
22	Jessie F. Bryant	1931	1933
23	Arnold Nordale	1933	1934
24	E. B. Collins	1934	1938
25	Arthur Leslie Nerland	1938	1940
26	William Growden	1940	1943
27	Howard G. Hughes	1943	1945
28	Alfeld Hjalmar Nordale	1945	1948
29	Ray Kohler	1948	1949
30	Maurice Johnson	1949	1950
31	Robert Hoopes	1950	1952
32	Ralph J. Rivers	1952	1954
33	Douglas Preston	1954	1957
34	Paul B. Haggland	1957	1960
35	Joseph M. Ribar	1960	1962
36	Darrell Brewington	1962	1965
37	Sylvia Ringstad	1965	1966
38	H. A. Boucher	1966	1970
39	Julian C. Rice	1970	1972
40	Harold Gillam	1972	1978
41	William Ransom Wood	1978	1980
42	Ruth E. Burnett	1980	1982
43	Bill Walley	1982	1988
44	James D. Nordale	1988	1990
45	Wayne S. Nelson	1990	1992
46	James C. Hayes	1992	2001
47	Steve M. Thompson	2001	2007
48	Terry Strle	2007	2010
49	Jerry Cleworth	2010	2013
50	John Eberhart	2013	2016
51	Jim Matherly	October 24, 2016	October 24, 2022
52	David Pruhs	October 24, 2022	Present

Mayors of Fairbanks North Star Borough

The borough mayor's position was originally titled chairman, rather than mayor, until the mid-1970s, given the structure which the legislature had originally established for organized boroughs. The term of office had changed from two years to three years at around the same time. The position is non-partisan.

Nr.	Name	Term start	Term end
1	John D. Schleppegrell	1964	1966
2	Harold Gillam	1966	1968
3	John A. Carlson	1968	1982
4	Bill Allen	1982	1985
5	Juanita Helms	1985	1990
6	Jim Sampson	1990	1997
7	Hank Hove	1997	2000
8	Rhonda Boyles (R)	2000	2003
9	Jim Whitaker (R)	2003	2009
10	Luke T. Hopkins (D)	2009	2015
11	Karl Kassel (I)	2015	2018
12	Bryce Ward (R)	2018	Present

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2013 Annual Budget . . City of Fairbanks . 221 . PDF . February 7, 2015.
2. News: Former Woodstock Man Elected Mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska. Carleton Sentinel. June 6, 1913.