Andrew Nerland

Nerland

When the University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ had no money to keep the doors open in 1947, Andrew Nerland was among the Fairbanks businessmen who loaned the institution money to operate.

Nerland had a lot invested in the university by then. He had helped James Wickersham pour the concrete cornerstone in 1915. He introduced the legislation to create the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Agricultural College and School of Mines in 1917. And he had served as a trustee and regent since 1929.

The university had no money because the Legislature hadn’t raised enough revenue to pay for the spending it had approved. The checks bounced.

Nerland contributed $10,000 of the $200,000 pledged by local businesses to keep the university running for the 1947-1949 biennium. 

For decades, the name Nerland was synonymous with furniture in ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. An immigrant from Norway, Nerland went to Dawson with other gold stampeders in 1898. He started a painting business. Moving to Fairbanks in 1904, he shifted to furniture and expanded to Nenana, Iditarod and Anchorage.

In addition to his service as a university regent and legislator, Nerland was a mayor of Fairbanks, a Fairbanks city councilman and a member of the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Statehood Committee. 

The university granted him an honorary doctorate in 1952. Nerland Hall, the dormitory, is named for him.

He died on Feb. 6, 1956, the day the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Constitutional Convention finished its work in the university’s Constitution Hall. His son, Les, had been a delegate and gave him a copy of the document before he passed away.

More online about Andrew Nerland: 

  • and other references
  • , a collection of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ stories maintained by UAA