Mead Treadwell was appointed to the US Arctic Research Commission in 2001 and was designated chair by the President in 2006. The Commission, established in 1984 by Congress, recommends goals and objectives for the U.S.Arctic Research Program, which joins 60 other nations in the International Polar Year, 2007-2008, kicking off March 1. Research conducted in the Arctic by U.S. agencies or, with U.S. sponsorship in Universities, totals approximately $400 million per year.

During his 30 years residency in Alaska, Mead Treadwell has played an active role in Arctic research and exploration. His focus has been on development of natural resources, protection of the Arctic environment and fostering international cooperation after the Cold War. In business, government and the academy, Treadwell has helped establish a broad range of research programs in technology, ecology, social science and policy.

Currently, Treadwell serves as Senior Fellow of the Institute of the North, founded by former Alaska Governor Walter J. Hickel. He served as the Institute’s first full time Managing Director and Adjunct Professor of Business when the Institute was part of Alaska Pacific University. Treadwell’s research at the Institute focuses on strategic and defense issues facing Alaska and Arctic regions, management of Alaska’s commonly owned resources and integration of Arctic transport and telecommunications infrastructure.

Concurrently, in business, Mead Treadwell is Chairman and CEO of Venture Ad Astra, an Anchorage, Alaska based firm which invests in and develops new geospatial and imaging technologies. He is non-executive chairman of Immersive Media Company, a publicly listed corporation Venture Ad Astra helped refinance in 2003. Since 1982, Treadwell has worked on his own account or in conjunction with Walter J. Hickel to invest in and provide support for the development of new ventures, including Yukon Pacific Corporation (a natural gas pipeline firm sold to CSX Corporation in 1989), Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) and Owner State Wireless, LLC, which developed a wireless joint venture with Nextel. He is a board member of Baltimore Dredge Enterprises, a manufacturer of dredge equipment with operations in Maryland, Wisconsin and Kansas, and Arctic Transportation Services, an Alaska native-owned cargo airline operating in rural areas of the state.

Treadwell served as Deputy Commissioner of Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation in the Hickel Cabinet from 1990-1994, and represented the State of Alaska on US Delegations as three circumpolar government groups: the eight-nation Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, the follow-on Arctic Council and the regional Governors” Northern Forum formed during the early 1990s. He is past president of the Alaska World Affairs Council.