Tribal Relations Director
University Relations and Division of Extension | Tribal Relations
Hometown: Denver, CO
NOT ACCEPTING TALK REQUESTS UNTIL June 2021
Aaron Bird Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Diné, enrolled Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Indian Reservation) was appointed as the inaugural Tribal Relations Director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019, with dual appointments in the Office of University Relations and the Division of Extension. Bird Bear previously served as Assistant Dean for Student Diversity Programs in the UW-Madison School of Education. Bird Bear joined UW-Madison in 2000 to support the retention and graduation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students at the university. In 2009, Bird Bear began supporting historically underrepresented students in the UW-Madison School of Education, and in 2012, Bird Bear began supporting the School’s efforts to integrate First Nations Studies into public PK–16 education, creating the educator resource wisconsinfirstnations.org. Bird Bear is an alumnus of the Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis MS program at UW-Madison.