Rasmuson, 66, was always the one his father, Elmer, thought would take over the family business. The Rasmuson family owned the largest bank in Alaska, and, as a teenager, Rasmuson spent his summers working at branches of what was then known as National Bank of Alaska. So did his sisters, Lile and Judy. But Ed was the oldest child and only son, who followed in his father’s footsteps by going east to Harvard. He granted his first loan before he turned 20. After graduating, he worked as a banker in New York, where he invested a few hundred dollars in the Broadway debut of Fiddler on the Roof.

His sisters also settled in the lower 48 states—Lile in Connecticut and Judy in Florida and Montana. But in March 1964, when one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in North America struck Alaska, Rasmuson headed back. His father asked him to stay and eventually named him CEO of the bank.

In that position, Rasmuson orchestrated the 2000 sale of the bank to Wells Fargo for nearly $910 million (the family’s share was estimated at $450 million in Wells Fargo stock), a sum that helped boost the Rasmuson Family Foundation’s endowment to its current $600 million, making it the largest charitable donor in Alaska. Under Rasmuson’s watch, the foundation became the centerpiece of the family fortune and the nexus between far-flung descendents of Jenny and E.A. Rasmuson, Rasmuson’s grandfather, who left Sweden at the turn of the century to work as a missionary in Alaska and, in 1918, took over a bank founded by a group of East Coast investors two years earlier.

The Rasmusons had grappled for several years with how to best use their largesse in grants restricted to the state. In 2006, the foundation was forced to overhaul its approach when the Senate ended federal earmarks: government payouts that senators traditionally used to benefit their home states. The Rasmuson Foundation had provided matching funds for many such grants in Alaska. Over the years, the foundation had become a necessary safety net for the entire state. It has funded healthcare programs for native Alaskans, grants to local artists, art galleries and university chairs. Even so, Rasmuson says, "We had been reactive, rather than proactive. We are no longer seeing the amount of federal dollars, and, as a result, we do not have the same projects to fund."

Determined to create a legacy as a family that helped relieve poverty and boost the state’s economy, the foundation—among the board members are Rasmuson; his wife, Cathy, who is vice chairman; and the foundation’s two heirs apparent, their daughter Natasha Von Imhof and Lile’s son, Adam Gibbons—has blazed trails this past year toward creating its own philanthropic programs.

For example, the foundation is developing a project to help reduce domestic violence and sexual assault in Alaska. It is offering to provide the administrative costs for a state program to increase charitable contributions from Alaska residents. And it has partnered with the Kellogg Foundation and several other donors to train Alaska native students to be dental aides.