John Sexton Shanly received the first diploma awarded by the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines (now the University of Alaska). The sole member of the graduating class of 1923, he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture on 12 June of that year. Shanly had spent three years studying agriculture at Cornell University before moving to Alaska and filing for a homestead. Charles Bunnell, first president of the college, talked him into finishing his degree at the newly opened institution; classes were tailored to fill the gaps Shanly needed for graduation. Shanly subsequently worked as a school principal in Nenana, Alaska, a diary farmer, a foreign travel guide, and inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He founded the Wilderness College at a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in New York. He died in New York in 1971 at the age of 77.
From the description of John Sexton Shanly papers, 1923. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 309459973
