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Karen Perdue

Karen Perdue is the President/CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. Previously, she was the Associate Vice-President for Health Programs at the University of Alaska from 2001 to 2010, and Commissioner of Health and Social Services for the State of Alaska from 1994 to 2001. A life-long Alaskan, Karen Perdue also has been a Teamster on the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, a health planner, a business owner, a newspaper reporter, an aide and press secretary to US Senator Ted Stevens, and served in numerous positions in State government. During her tenure at the University of Alaska, Karen helped launch the Alaska Mental Health Trust History Project Jukebox, and later began the related Morningside Hospital History Project.

Karen Perdue appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

As Interviewer

Interview Title	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Abstract
A. Robert Smith	2006-15-15	Alaska Mental Health Trust History	A. Robert Smith was interviewed by Karen Perdue with videography by Deborah Lawton and Michael Letzring of KUAC radio/tv, Fairbanks on April 29, 2009 in a recording studio at KUAC radio/tv on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. William Schneider was also present during the interview. A. Robert Smith talks about his experience as a young journalist in Washington D.C. in the mid-1950s reporting on the congressional oversight hearings for Morningside Hospital, and the battle over Congress' passage of Alaska's Mental Health Enabling Act.
John Malone, Interview 2	2006-15-07	Alaska Mental Health Trust History	John Malone was interviewed by Bill Schneider and Karen Perdue with videography by Deborah Lawton and Michael Letzring of KUAC radio/tv, Fairbanks on April 16, 2008 at the Marriot Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. John was also interviewed by Bill Schneider and Karen Brewster on March 11, 2008 in Anchorage, Alaska.
Margaret Lowe	2006-15-08	Alaska Mental Health Trust History	Margaret Lowe was interviewed by Bill Schneider and Karen Perdue with videography by Deborah Lawton and Michael Letzring of KUAC radio/tv, Fairbanks on April 16, 2008 at the Marriot Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. She has been involved with mental health treatment and services in Alaska since the early 1950's and has been a strong advocate of helping the mentally ill. She was a school teacher with an interest in special education for young children, and earned a masters degree in Special Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has been the chairperson for the Governor's Council on Special Education and Developmental Disabilities, the director of the State Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, was Commissioner of the State's Department of Health and Social Services, and was a trustee on the board of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority from 2005-2008.
Steve Cowper	2006-15-09	Alaska Mental Health Trust History	Former Alaska Governor Steve Cowper was interviewed by Bill Schneider and Karen Perdue with videography by Deborah Lawton and Michael Letzring of KUAC radio/tv, Fairbanks on April 25, 2008 at the Marriot Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. He discusses his role in the mental health trust settlement. He first became familiar with mental health issues as District Attorney in Fairbanks, Alaska when he traveled around the state. He was the lawyer on the Vern Weiss case in 1982 and in 1986 became Governor of Alaska when the settlement case was being debated in the courts and between parts of the State government. He also talks about his friendship and experiences with John Malone.