Steve Cowper
Stephen Cambreleng Cowper (born August 21, 1938) is an American Democratic politician who was the sixth governor of Alaska from 1986 to 1990. He was governor during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Steve Cowper
Multi-member district
Multi-member district
Deanna Elizabeth Blanco (divorced)
Margaret Stewart (1985–1991) (divorced)
3
United States
Cowper is the CEO of Steve Cowper & Associates. He has also served on the boards of multiple energy-related companies in the US and Canada.
Early life and career[edit]
Cowper was born in 1938 in Petersburg, Virginia, to Stephanie (née Smith) and Marion Cowper. He was raised in Kinston, North Carolina. He received bachelor's and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and after serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and Army Reserve, he worked as a maritime lawyer in Norfolk, Virginia, for three years.[1] Cowper moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1968 and served as assistant district attorney for rural Alaska and Fairbanks.[1]
In 1970, Cowper went to Vietnam and worked as a freelance correspondent throughout Asia. Upon returning to Alaska, he wrote a political column for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, taught a college course on Alaska lands, was a partner in an air taxi and cargo business, and worked as a diver for a University of Alaska marine research team.[1]
Post-governorship[edit]
After serving as governor, Cowper served as a visiting fellow at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1991, and was a Co-Chairman of the Pacific Rim Fisheries Conference in 1994 and 1997.[3]
Since 1991, he has been the CEO of Steve Cowper & Associates, a group that advises companies and governments on energy-related initiatives. He has also served on the boards of multiple energy-related companies in the US and Canada. As of 2010, Cowper lived in Austin, Texas with his third wife and family.
