Richard B. Williams

Board President, Leader

Ogalala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne

A member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe, Richard B. Williams holds the distinction of being the first American Indian student to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska.  He earned a master’s in education administration from UW.  In May 2007, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. From 1997-2012, he served as president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, a national nonprofit organization that raises private support for all 32 tribal colleges and universities in the United States.  Throughout his career, he has lectured and presented for various organizations, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Indian Education Association, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and the National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations. In 1993 and 1994, he served as a consulting editor for the Discovery Channel series How the West Was Lost. From 1993 to 1997, Williams served as an instructor for the Indian Studies graduate program at the University of Denver.