UMD News Releases

DULUTH, MN — The University of Minnesota Duluth’s (UMD) College of Education and Human Service Professions (CEHSP) hosted a reception and feast to honor David Beaulieu, the new Ruth A. Myers Endowed Chair in UMD’s American Indian Education. In addition, Theresa Beaulieu, the new director of Eni-gikendaasoyang, and Roxanne Gould, a new assistant professor, Department of Education, were welcomed to CEHSP.

“We are very happy to have Dr. Beaulieu, Dr. Gould, and Ms. Beaulieu join the College of Education and Human Service Professions. They all bring with them a wealth of experience, and their insights and expertise will greatly enhance the programs in CEHSP and beyond. The work these scholars have done in American Indian education, in the state and nationally, will complement and enhance the long history of work and the commitment to this work that defines so much of what we do at UMD,” said Jill Pinkney Pastrana, dean of CEHSP.

Dr. David Beaulieu comes to UMD from the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee where he was a professor in the Department of Education Policy and Community Studies, the Electa Quinney Endowed Professor of American Indian Education, and assistant to the provost and vice chancellor for University American Indian Program. From 1997-2001, he was the director of the Office of Indian Education for the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. He earned his Ph.D. in Education Administration from the University of Minnesota. He is an emeritus professor in Education Policy Studies from Arizona State University.

Theresa Beaulieu was most recently an education librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, as well as a faculty associate where she taught Literature for the Young Child to students preparing to become teachers. She earned an M.L.S. from the University of Arizona-Tucson and an M.Ed, in Secondary Education from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Roxanne Gould was adjunct faculty at Augsburg College teaching Special Education Assessment and Professional Development for Naadamaadiwin cohort, Diversity in Education for the College of Education. She also worked on the Lower Phalen Creek Project. She earned her Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership for the University of Minnesota.

The reception was held on Monday, August 25.

About Ruth A. Myers and the Ruth A. Myers Endowed Chair

The Ruth A. Myers Endowed Chair in American Indian Education was established at UMD in 1993. Ruth A. Myers was an influential leader in education for many years, serving on the Duluth School Board and the Minnesota State Board of Education. She was employed by UMD in 1979 and created many programs to support American Indian students and others. She served many years as co-director of American Indian Programs (now the Center of American Indian and Minority Health in the Duluth School of Medicine). Myers was awarded an honorary doctorate by UMD at her retirement in 1994 for her many achievements. Myers was an enrolled member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She passed away in 2001 at the age of 75. For more details on Ruth Myers’ many accomplishments, visit the Minnesota Historical Society website http://www.mnopedia.org/person/myers-ruth-1926-2001

Funding for the Endowed Chair came from the sale of “salt spring lands” in northern Minnesota. Salt spring lands (46,080 acres) were given to Minnesota by the federal government at statehood in 1858 to reserve for the public use any springs that produced naturally occurring salt, at a time when salt was needed to preserve meat before refrigeration was available. For an account of the search for salt springs, visit the Minnesota Historical Society website http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/53/v53i01p009-024.pdf In 1873, the Minnesota legislature transferred the administration of salt lands and their revenues to the University of Minnesota. When the University decided to sell the salt lands, Ruth Myers and the UMD American Indian Advisory Board advocated that a substantial portion of the resulting funds be dedicated to an Endowed Chair in American Indian Education, since the land had originally been Ojibwe land. They also proposed that the faculty member employed in this position be housed in the Department of Child and Family Development, which later became the Department of Education. It is largely due to the strong advocacy, hard work and persistence of Ruth Myers that the Endowed Chair was funded by the University of Minnesota.