Editing Steve Cowper (section)

==Early life and career==
Cowper was born in 1938 in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], to Stephanie (née Smith) and Marion Cowper. He was raised in [[Kinston, North Carolina]] and attended [[Virginia Episcopal School]] in [[Lynchburg, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web | title=100 Years of Alaska's Legislature | website=Alaska State Legislature | url=https://akleg.gov/100years/bio.php?id=1027 | ref={{sfnref | Alaska State Legislature}} | access-date=2024-08-06}}</ref> He received [[Bachelor of Arts|bachelor's]] and [[Bachelor of Laws|law]] degrees from the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]], and after serving in the [[U.S. Army Medical Corps]] and [[U.S. Army Reserve|Army Reserve]], he worked as a [[maritime law]]yer in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], for three years.<ref name=nga>{{cite web|title=Alaska Governor Steve Cowper|url=http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_alaska/col2-content/main-content-list/title_cowper_steve.html|work=nga.org|publisher=National Governors Association|accessdate=May 12, 2013}}</ref> Cowper moved to [[Fairbanks, Alaska]], in 1968 and served as assistant district attorney for rural Alaska and Fairbanks.<ref name="nga"/>

In 1970, Cowper went to [[Vietnam]] and worked as a freelance correspondent throughout [[Asia]]. Upon returning to Alaska, he wrote a political column for the ''[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]]'', taught a college course on Alaska lands, was a partner in an air taxi and cargo business, and worked as a diver for a [[University of Alaska]]{{Clarify|date=May 2014|reason=Link points to the article "University of Alaska System", which is predominately an administrative entity little involved in research of this sort.}} marine research team.<ref name="nga"/>