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Alaska Women's Hall of Fame

Alaska Women's Hall of Fame

Honoring, in perpetuity, women whose contributions have influenced the direction of Alaska

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SHIRLEY (Heeter) FRASER, MD

CLASS OF 2022
Shirley Fraser
ACHIEVEMENTS
• Healthcare
• Neurology
DATES
Born: 1934
Inducted: 2022

Acceptance Speech

SHIRLEY (Heeter) FRASER, MD

CLASS OF 2022

Fraser graduated from high school in Clarion, Pennsylvania, earned a BS in Chemistry from Allegheny College and a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania of Medicine as one of three women in a class of 136. She became the first female resident in internal medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and did neurological rotations at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London, plus a residency in neurology at the University of Colorado Hospital. 

She began work in Alaska in 1964 at the Alaska Native Service hospital in Anchorage, later opening a private practice specializing in diagnosing and treating brain, spinal cord, and nervous system problems which continued for three decades, and held weekly clinics at ANS. 

Fraser started the first EEG lab at Providence Hospital in 1971. Later, she started the first sleep lab in Alaska, the 36th sleep lab in the U.S. and was groundbreaking as it made its own equipment. Fraser wrote the legislation for Alaska defining brain death, which allowed organ transplants. 

Fraser was a volunteer neurologist and medical provider at the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic and read EEGs at the North Star Hospital for years. In addition, she has reviewed disability charts for Social Security Disability Unit weekly for 45 years. 

As a caring medical expert working into her 80s, she has been an inspiration in Anchorage and the Alaska Native community, especially for women and young people. 

She was married 51 years to Dr. Robert (Bob) Fraser. They raised three sons.

In addition to her medical work, Fraser is a wonderful carpenter, having built children’s furniture and several dollhouses. She is an amazing quilter and seamstress. Earlier, she played the flute through high school, college, and then in an amateur orchestra in Anchorage.

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