Governor Dunleavy announces multiple staff changes

“Commissioner Crum demonstrated to me, and all Alaskans, his management and leadership abilities over the past four years as health commissioner,” said Governor Dunleavy. “From preparing and protecting Alaskans from the global pandemic to the reorganization of the Department of Health and Social Services, he is a skilled and dedicated public servant and I look forward to another four years working with him to move Alaska forward.”

Born and raised in Alaska, Crum has experience in the private sector in strategic management, organizational development, executive consulting and working on mega-projects, which helped him effectively establish and lead the COVID-19 response team, the disbursement of the COVID vaccines, addressing the opioid crisis, and restructuring the Department of Health and Social Services into two separate departments.

Prior to being appointed commissioner in December 2018, Crum was executive vice president of his family’s company, Northern Industrial Training. He has been actively involved in several community service groups, serving as a board member for groups like the Salvation Army and MyHouse, He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Northwestern University and a Master of Science in Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Commissioner Crum will take the helm at the Department of Revenue on Nov. 16.

Meanwhile, the Governor named Heidi Hedberg to replace Commissioner Crum in the interim as acting commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health today.

Hedberg has been with the state since 2009, serving in various capacities within the Division of Public Health, Department of Health, and most recently as the Director for the Division of Public Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Alaska Pacific University. She also chairs the Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation and serves on the Governor’s Council on Homelessness, and State Emergency Response Commission.

She will also start on Nov. 16 as acting commissioner.

Finally, Governor Dunleavy announced today that Tyson Gallagher will serve as his Chief of Staff. He has been filling the role as Acting Chief of Staff since July 2022.

In a press release, the Governor said, “I have the utmost confidence in Mr. Gallagher’s ability to manage the day to day operations of my administration, while simultaneously advancing the policy goals I have laid out for the next four years. He has served the state in a variety of roles and demonstrated an ability to understand the complexities of public policy and to create solutions that move our state forward.”

An Anchorage native, Gallagher has over 13 years’ experience working on Alaska policy and budget issues. He began working for the State of Alaska in the Office of Governor Sean Parnell, and then in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he worked on transportation and revenue issues, as well as coordinating the Governor’s capital budget. After leaving OMB, Gallagher served in the Commissioner’s Office at the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

Interest in politics took him to the legislative branch, where he worked for Representative Lynn Gattis during her tenure on the House Finance Committee. Gallagher also spent nearly five years managing government relations at GCI working on telecom issues on both the state and federal level.

After serving Representative Lynn Gattis, he spent almost 5 years working for CGI before returning to work for Governor Dunleavy as Deputy Chief of Staff in 2021.