This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(October 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Elmer Rasmuson
Official portrait of Rasmuson in 1968
Mayor of Anchorage
In office April 8, 1964 – April 8, 1967
Preceded by	George Sharrock
Succeeded by	George M. Sullivan
Personal details
Born	Elmer Edwin Rasmuson (1909-02-15)February 15, 1909 Yakutat, Alaska, U.S.
Died	December 1, 2000(2000-12-01) (aged 91) Seattle,Washington, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Harvard University (BS,MA)

Elmer Edwin Rasmuson (February 15, 1909 – December 1, 2000) was an American banker,philanthropist and politician in the territory and state ofAlaska. He led the family business,National Bank of Alaska, for many decades as president and later chairman. He also served asMayor of Anchorage from 1964 to 1967 and was theRepublican nominee forUnited States Senator from Alaska in the1968 election, losing the general election toMike Gravel.

Elmer Edwin Rasmuson was born inYakutat, Alaska to Edward Anton Rasmuson (1882–1949) and Jenny Olson Rasmuson,Swedish immigrants and missionaries of theEvangelical Covenant Church who had met in Yakutat. Elmer had an older sister,Evangeline, who born in 1906.

Elmer's father took correspondence courses in law, and in 1915, moved the family toMinneapolis, Minnesota, where he passed thebar examination. The family moved back toAlaska within the year, stopping first inJuneau before settling inSkagway, where Edward found work as a magistrate.

Elmer attended Skagway School. In his memoirs, he called Skagway a "good town in which to grow up." While he was still in school, he worked for theBank of Alaska, which his father had taken over in 1918. He graduated fromQueen Anne High School inSeattle, Washington in 1925, and after a couple of years at theUniversity of Washington, transferred toHarvard University in 1928, earning aBachelor of Science in 1930 and aMaster of Arts in 1935.

He went to work forArthur Andersen, and in 1939, married Lile Bernard ofNew Jersey. They had three children: Edward Bernard (born 1940),Lile Gibbons, and Judy.

In 1940, Andersen sent Elmer to work inHouston, Texas, mostly forTexaco. Elmer returned to Skagway in 1943, recalled by his father, who began to suffer from heart disease. Elmer was installed as president of theNational Bank of Alaska. In 1945, the bank's headquarters were moved to Anchorage. Edward Anton Rasmuson died in 1949, leaving the bank to his son.

In 1954, together with brother-in-lawRobert Atwood (who had married Evangeline in 1932), Elmer invested inRichfield Oil's exploration of theKenai Peninsula. The investment yielded great profits after oil was discovered in 1957 near theSwanson River.

In 1955, Elmer created, with his mother, the charitable Rasmuson Foundation. It was to become "the most generous private donor in Alaska history."[1]Archived 2007-10-07 at theWayback Machine

Elmer's wife, Lile, died ofcancer in 1960. The same year, a merger made National Bank of Alaska the largest bank in the state.

In 1961, Elmer marriedMary Louise Milligan, national director of theWomen's Army Corps.

In 1972, Elmer received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.^[1]

Critical of government response to theGood Friday earthquake of 1964, Rasmuson ran forMayor of Anchorage, and was elected. He served a three-year term, overseeing reconstruction of the city. In 1967, he organized the foundation of theAnchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum, intended to celebrate the 100th anniversary of thePurchase of Alaska.

In 1968, he ran for theU.S. Senate in theRepublicanprimary, beating outTed Stevens for the party's nomination. But he lost thegeneral election, coming second toDemocratMike Gravel. Incumbent SenatorErnest Gruening, who had lost his party's nomination to Gravel, placed third.

In 1969, Rasmuson stepped down as Regent of theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks, a position he had held since 1950. In 1970, theElmer E. Rasmuson Library was dedicated to his service.

In 1974, Elmer Rasmuson retired from work at the National Bank of Alaska, transferring the business to his son, Edward B. Rasmuson.

In 1980, Elmer Rasmuson was elected as the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of the newly formedAlaska Permanent Fund.^[2] He would hold this position until 1982.

Elmer E. Rasmuson died December 1, 2000, in Seattle, as a result of congestive heart failure. He concluded decades of philanthropic work by leaving his fortune to charity, including $19 million for the University of Alaska Fairbanks and $400 million for Rasmuson Foundation.

• Obituary from the Anchorage Daily News
• "Elmer Rasmuson in memorium" (Alaska Journal of Commerce)
• "Skagway remembers Elmer Rasmuson"
• "Charity, Inc." (Anchorage Daily News)Archived 2007-10-25 at theWayback Machine
• "Elmer Rasmuson. A Life of Service: The papers of Elmer E. Rasmuson." University of Alaska Fairbanks.Archived 2011-07-25 at theWayback Machine

• Rasmuson, Elmer E. and Cole, Terrence.Banking On Alaska: The Story of the National Bank of Alaska (2 volumes).University of Alaska Press: Fairbanks.

• 1909 births
• 2000 deaths
• 20th-century American businesspeople
• 20th-century American philanthropists
• 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska
• Alaska Republicans
• American bankers
• American people of Swedish descent
• Harvard University alumni
• Mayors of Anchorage, Alaska
• People from Skagway, Alaska
• University of Alaska Fairbanks people
• University of Alaska regents
• University of Washington alumni
• Yakutat, Alaska
• 20th-century American academics

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles lacking in-text citations from October 2014
• All articles lacking in-text citations
• Webarchive template wayback links