Mead Treadwell

Mead Treadwell
Born	(1956-03-21) March 21, 1956 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, politician
Years active	1978–present
Known for	11th lieutenant governor of Alaska, chairman of United States Arctic Research Commission

Louis Mead Treadwell II (born March 21, 1956) is an American entrepreneur and political figure who held the position of the 11th lieutenant governor of Alaska from 2010 until 2014. He also led the United States Arctic Research Commission as its chairman between 2006 and 2010. Affiliated with the Republican Party, Treadwell was a contender in the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Alaska.

Early life and education

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Treadwell is the son of Anne and Timothy Treadwell, the latter having served as first selectman of Newtown, Connecticut. His upbringing took place in Sandy Hook, Newtown, where his father is honored through the Timothy B. Treadwell Memorial Park. He attended local schools including Newtown Public Schools and Sandy Hook Elementary before completing his studies at Newtown High School. Selected by Senator Lowell Weicker as a Senate Page, he attended the Senate Page School in Washington, D.C., and later graduated from the prestigious Hotchkiss School in 1974.

Treadwell obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Yale University in 1978. He further advanced his education by earning a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1982.

Career

In 1978, Treadwell relocated to Alaska to work as an intern on former U.S. Secretary of Interior Wally Hickel's gubernatorial campaign. Following Hickel's narrow defeat in the primary and subsequent write-in campaign during the general election, Treadwell transitioned into journalism as a political reporter for the Anchorage Times. He eventually joined Hickel’s Yukon Pacific Corporation as treasurer and vice president, concentrating on a trans-Alaska gas pipeline initiative. Yukon Pacific was later acquired by CSX in 1989.

Early political career

After the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Treadwell departed Yukon Pacific to assume the role of spill response director for Cordova, overseeing cleanup operations vital to sustaining the local fishing industry. He recognized that despite initial signs of recovery, environmental effects persisted. In 1990 and again in 1993, he led expeditions addressing Arctic safety and nuclear regulation issues, including organizing RADEX in 1994—the first circumpolar radiation response exercise.

When Governor Steve Cowper chose not to run for re-election in 1990, Hickel won office as the nominee of the Alaskan Independence Party and appointed Treadwell as Deputy Commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation from 1991 to 1994. During this period, Treadwell championed legislation aimed at preventing oil spills and founded the Environmental Justice division. He also represented Alaska within circumpolar governmental bodies such as the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, the Arctic Council, and the Governors’ Northern Forum. In 1992, he accompanied Hickel to participate in the United Nations Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro.

Following Hickel’s exit from office in 1994, Treadwell served on the board of the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation and continues his involvement with the Alaska Siberia Research Center board. In 2002, he was elected a Fellow National of the Explorers Club and currently chairs its North Pacific Alaska Chapter.

Business ventures

Treadwell has played a significant role in Alaska's corporate landscape through various prosperous enterprises. He is a board member of Venture Ad Astra, an organization specializing in the development of remote sensing and geolocation technologies that serve national security, navigation, timing infrastructure, and commercial sectors. Additionally, Treadwell was instrumental in establishing Digimarc, a company recognized for digital watermarking technology and honored as the fastest-growing tech firm by Forbes in 2004. He also held the position of non-executive chairman at Immersive Media Corporation (IMC), the innovator behind the camera systems used in Google’s Street View and Map Quest’s 360 View features.

Arctic Research Commission

Appointed to the United States Arctic Research Commission in 2001, Treadwell was elevated to chairmanship by President George W. Bush in 2006. Throughout his tenure, he provided testimony before United States Congress committees on matters concerning Arctic policy and national security. While he voiced apprehensions about human-induced global warming in 2008 and 2009, during his 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor he minimized the impact of carbon dioxide emissions. In August 2009, addressing the Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Homeland Security Subcommittee, he emphasized that any commercial fishing ban in the Beaufort Sea must be coordinated with Canada and Russia to ensure effectiveness.

At the same time, Treadwell served as Senior Fellow and was the first full-time Managing Director at the Institute of the North at Alaska Pacific University, where his focus included Alaska’s strategic defense, management systems, transportation networks, and telecommunications. He co-authored Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century and led the research project Why the Arctic Matters (Commonwealth North, 2009).

In 2008, Treadwell acted as an Alaska delegate at the 2008 Republican National Convention and took on a leadership role as co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in Alaska during its early stages.

Lieutenant governor of Alaska

In May 2010, Treadwell declared his intention to run for lieutenant governor of Alaska, motivated by concerns over federal government intrusion, issues surrounding the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and a desire to expand Alaska’s economy via international trade opportunities. He secured victory in the Republican primary held on August 24, 2010, capturing roughly 53% of votes and defeating state Representative Jay Ramras by more than 22%. Subsequently, his campaign joined forces with incumbent Republican Governor Sean Parnell.

During the November 2010 general election, the Parnell-Treadwell ticket triumphed over Democrats Ethan Berkowitz and Diane E. Benson, winning approximately 59% to 38%, with minor party candidates accounting for about 3% of votes. Treadwell officially assumed office as Lieutenant Governor on December 6, 2010.

2014 U.S. Senate election

On December 1, 2012, at a Republican luncheon in Fairbanks, Alaska, Treadwell announced he was establishing an exploratory committee to pursue the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. He formally entered the primary race on June 18, 2013, launching his campaign publicly in September alongside rivals Joe Miller and Dan Sullivan.

The Republican primary on August 19, 2014 resulted in Sullivan winning with approximately 40% of votes, outspending both Miller (32%) and Treadwell (25%) combined.

2018 Alaska Republican Gubernatorial Primary

On June 1, 2018, Mead Treadwell declared his intention to run for Governor of Alaska. However, he was defeated in the Republican primary by state senator Mike Dunleavy.

Personal life

Mead Treadwell and his wife, Carol, were parents to three children. Carol succumbed to cancer in 2002. Treadwell continues to participate actively in the Catholic Church.

Works

• 132 pages.

External links

• Campaign site for Mead Treadwell’s U.S. Senate bid

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