Eileen MacLean

{{Short description|American politician and educator}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Eileen MacLean | birth_name = Eileen Panigeo | office = Member of the Alaska House of Representatives | term_start = 1989 | death_date = {{death date and age|1996|4|24|1949|6|12}} | death_place = Utqiaġvik, Alaska | term_end = January 12, 1996 | birth_date = {{birth date |1949|6|12}} | birth_place = Utqiaġvik, Alaska Territory | education = University of Alaska,<br>Fairbanks (BA)<br>University of Copenhagen (MEd) | party = Democratic | children = Tara Sweeney }}

'''Eileen Panigeo MacLean''' (June 12, 1949 – April 24, 1996) was an Iñupiaq American politician and educator. She served as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1989 to 1996.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}} She represented North Slope Borough, Alaska.<ref name=":0" />

==Early life and education== MacLean was born in Utqiaġvik, Alaska Territory, and was Iñupiaq. She graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, in Sitka, Alaska, in 1968.

MacLean received her bachelor's degree in elementary education from University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975 and her master's degree in education from University of Copenhagen in 1983.

== Career == MacLean worked as a junior high school teacher and was involved in the real estate business. MacLean served on the North Slope Borough Assembly and on the North Slope School Board. She was a Democrat.

MacLean was elected to and served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1989 until her resignation on January 12, 1996, due to health problems. Before that she was on the executive board of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. MacLean was also an executive director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Stern |first=Pamela |title=The A to Z of the Inuit |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8108-6822-9 |location=Lanham |pages=100, 101 |chapter=Maclean, Eileen Panigeo |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/atozofinuit0000ster/page/100/mode/2up?q=maclean}}</ref>

==Personal life== She had a daughter is Tara Sweeney, an activist and businesswoman.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/115/chrg/shrg30924/CHRG-115shrg30924.htm Nomination of Tara MacLean Sweeney]</ref> MacLean died at her home in Utqiaġvik after a long illness.<ref>[http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Member/Detail/18?code=MAL Alaska State Legislature-Eileen MacLean]</ref><ref>[https://www.alaska.edu/uajourney/notable-people/fairbanks/eileen-panigeo-maclean/ University of Alaska-UA Journey-Eileen Panigeo MacLean]</ref><ref>'Eileen MacLean, Former Legislator, Dies at 46,' ''Daily Sitka Sentinel (Sitka Alaska),'' April 25, 1996, pg. 3</ref>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Eileen}} Category:1949 births Category:1996 deaths Category:20th-century Alaska Native people Category:People from Utqiagvik, Alaska Category:Inupiat people Category:University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni Category:University of Copenhagen alumni Category:20th-century Alaska Native women Category:Inupiat women Category:Businesspeople from Alaska Category:Educators from Alaska Category:20th-century American women educators Category:20th-century American educators Category:Women state legislators in Alaska Category:Borough assembly members in Alaska Category:School board members in Alaska Category:Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Category:Native American state legislators in Alaska Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century Inuit politicians Category:20th-century Inuit women Category:20th-century Native American politicians Category:Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government Category:20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature