PORTLAND, Ore. – Dr. Amy Cooper from the University of Alaska was named the 2025-26 Great Northwest Athletic Conference SAAC Faculty Mentor Award winner the conference announced on Wednesday.
 
The faculty athletic representative (FAR) for the Nanook athletic department, Cooper has helped numerous Alaska student-athletes navigate the challenges of competing on the court whilst adhering to rigorous academic criteria in the classroom. "Dr. Cooper's presence is huge among our department, from team meetings, academic check-ins or just her personable approach to leadership," said Alaska SAAC president Anna Nevison. "As an accounting teacher for around 17 years, Amy has an astounding ability to make anyone fall in love with accounting. Many athletes praise her ability to teach and mentor. Often spotted at sporting events, Amy is a huge advocate for athletics across campus. As athletes, we appreciate her support both on and off the playing surface, and we are very lucky to have her as part of our athletics family and business college."
 
From the Alaska nomination: "Dr. Cooper has an open-door policy. Whether this be for help with accounting homework or to be a sounding board for any of our athletics-related qualms, she is always there to lend an ear. She is an example to all of us in her dedication to student-athletes. An example of this is her recent visit to Indianapolis for the advanced FARs conference. She wants to do her best for us as a department.
 
"Twice per year, Dr. Cooper meets with every team. These meetings prepare us for our academics with sessions that center around communicating with professors, understanding university and academic rules better and organizing ourselves around athletic competition. Her frequent athletic office hours mean that she is always open for a conversation about what our lives will look like after athletics."
 
Presented annually by the GNAC SAAC, the Faculty Mentor Award honors faculty members at member institutions that demonstrate exemplary support to student-athletes both on and off the field of competition while representing the NCAA Division II core values of learning, passion, service, resourcefulness, sportsmanship and balance. Award recipients should have a strong commitment to preparing student-athletes to excel in their endeavors after their athletic careers have ended.
 
Past recipients of the GNAC SAAC Faculty Mentor Award include Dr. Stephen Parker of Saint Martin's, Laura Reid and Dr. Peter Ruben of Simon Fraser University, Amy Cooper of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kevin Bartlett of Seattle Pacific University, Emily Vela-Haynes of Western Oregon University, Dr. Scott Harris and Dr. Alex Shafer of Montana State University Billings, Bill Rapp of Northwest Nazarene, Dr. T.H. "Butch" Kamena of Western Washington University and Nick Zentner and Matthew Martinson of Central Washington University.