What Is the University For? Keynote – Dr. Shelly Lowe

Tues, November 17th, 4:00pm

Irving & Dorothy Levy Hall
232 North Park Street
1st Floor, room #1190

Dr. Shelly C. Lowe (she/her) is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, Arizona. She is President of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM. Her career in higher education has included administrative roles as Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, Assistant Dean in the Yale College Deans Office, and Director of the Native American Cultural Center at Yale University. Prior to these positions, she spent six years as the Graduate Education Program Facilitator for the American Indian Studies Programs at The University of Arizona.

Dr. Lowe has served in a variety of leadership roles nationally, most recently as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities under the Biden-Harris Administration. Prior to serving as Chair, she served six years as a member of the National Council on the Humanities, an appointment she received from President Obama. Other roles include serving as a member of the University of Arizona Alumni Association Governing Board and as a member of the Challenge Leadership Group for the MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellowship. She has also served on the board of the National Indian Education Association and as a Board of Trustee for the National Museum of the American Indian. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Master of Arts in American Indian Studies, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Arizona.