Fran Ulmer served as lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002, becoming the first female ever elected to statewide office in Alaska. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she earned her law degree from The University of Wisconsin and began serving as a legislative staffer in Juneau in 1973. She was elected mayor of Juneau in 1983 and later served six terms in the Alaska House of Representatives. In 2002 Ulmer won the nomination of the Democratic Party for the office of governor but lost the election to then-U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski. She subsequently served as Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage and special advisor on Arctic issues to the U.S. State Department.