Aaron Bird Bear – Assistant Dean, School of Education, UW-Madison

Aaron Bird Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Diné Nations) is the Assistant Dean for Student Diversity Programs in the School of Education at the University of WisconsinMadison. Bird Bear oversees five academic programs serving pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate students in the School of Education. Additionally, Bird Bear oversees American Indian Curriculum Services (AICS) which forwards the integration of the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the 12 First Nations of Wisconsin into PK16 education. With UW–Madison likely being the most archaeologically-rich campus in the United States, AICS offers place-based learning through a First Nations Cultural Landscape Tour examining the 12,000-year human story of the shores of Waaksikhomik (Lake Mendota). Bird Bear received his Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis MS degree from the School of Education University of Wisconsin–Madison.