Edna Ahgeak MacLean, Ph.D., an Iņupiaq from Barrow, Alaska and President Emeritus of Ilisaġvik College, is currently completing the comprehensive Iņupiaq dictionary. She served as president of the northernmost college in the United States, Iļisaġvik College in Barrow, Alaska from 1995-2005. Before serving as Special Assistant for Rural Education for the Commissioner of Education in Alaska from 1987-1990, Dr. MacLean developed and taught the Iņupiaq language B.A. degree program courses at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1976-1987. Edna received her B.A. fron the University of California Berkeley, her Master’s Degree from the University of Washington, and her Ph.D. in education from Stanford University. Dr. MacLean was inducted into the Stanford University Alumni Hall Fame in 2003. She was named the Alaska Federation of Natives Citizen of the Year in 2005, in 2006 she received the State of Alaska Distinguished Service to the Humanities Award. Dr. MacLean is extremely proud of her two sons, Stephen Ahgeak MacLean and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean and feels especially blessed to have a wonderful granddaughter, Gwendolyn Sirrouna MacLean.

Address: 2002 Crataegus Circle, Anchorage, Alaska 99508

                                 1991 - 1995:    Stanford University, Ph.D., Education.

1990 - 1991:     University of Washington, MA in Education (Bilingual Education).

1975 - 1976:     Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; graduate study in Greenlandic Eskimo.

1970 - 1973:     University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska; courses in linguistics.

1967 - 1969:     University of California, California Life Teaching Credential, Berkeley, California.

1965 - 1967:     Colorado Women’s College, Denver, Colorado; BA, major in History and minors in Humanities and German.

1963 - 1965:     University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.

1959 - 1963:     Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Mt. Edgecumbe, Alaska.

1949 - 1957:     Barrow Day School, Barrow, Alaska.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE/EMPLOYMENT

2007 – present   Iņupiaq Language Consultant (working on the comprehensive Iņupiaq dictionary).

2006 - 2007      Presidents Professor of Alaska Native Languages, University of Alaska

7/95 – 7/2005:  Ilisagvik College, President of Ilisagvik College, Barrow, Alaska.

6/92 - 9/92:       Iņupiaq Curriculum Developer, North Slope Borough School District, Barrow, Alaska.

9/87 - 9/90:       State of Alaska, Department of Education, Special Assistant for Rural and Alaska Native Education to the Commissioner of Education.

1979 - 1987:     University of Alaska, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Alaska Native Programs, Assistant/Associate Professor of Iņupiaq-Eskimo, Fairbanks.

1976 - 1979:     University of Alaska, College of Arts and Sciences, Instructor in Iņupiaq-Eskimo, Fairbanks, Alaska.

1973 - 1975:     University of Alaska, Alaska Native Language Center, Language Specialist, Fairbanks, Alaska.

1971 - 1973:     University of Alaska, Alaska Native Language Center, Iņupiaq Writer, Fairbanks, Alaska.

68, 70, 71:         University of Alaska, Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, Research Assistant, Barrow, Alaska.

Iņupiaq-Eskimo, North Slope Alaskan dialect, fluent and literate, (Native speaker).

Greenlandic dialect, basic fluency and literacy.

American English, fluent and literate.

2005                Two Children Adrift, In Swan, Brian (ed.) Voices from Four Directions, Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London.

1995                Inupiaq Narratives: Interaction of Demonstratives, Aspect, and Tense, Volume I and II, unpublished dissertation, Stanford University.  

1990                  Culture and Change for Iņupiat and Yupiks of Alaska, In Collis, R.F. Dirmid, (ed.), Arctic Languages, An Awakening, UNESCO.

1986                  North Slope Iņupiaq Grammar, Alaska Native Language Center/College of Liberal Arts, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

1985                  North Slope Iņupiaq Dialogues: First Year. Alaska Native Language Center/College of Liberal Arts, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

1981                  Inupiallu Tanŋillu Uqaluŋisa Iļaŋich/Abridged Iņupiaq and English Dictionary. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks and North Slope Borough Iņupiaq Language Commission, Barrow, Alaska.

1979                  The Need for and Feasibility of Planning for a Coordinated International Auxiliary Iņuit Writing System. In Eskimo Languages, Their Present-Day Conditions, “Majority Language Influence on Eskimo Minority Languages”, Arkona, Aarhus 1979.

1973                  Genealogical Record of Barrow Eskimo Families. Primate Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.

2008                  Comprehensive North Slope Iņupiaq Dictionary.

2008                Overview of the Inupiaq Language of the North Slope of Alaska presented

at the North Slope Borough Iņupiaq History, Language, and Culture

Commission Elders and Youth

                   Conference, Barrow, Alaska, August 5, 2008.

2008                Keynote Address: “Ikautiksriuqta Puiguitkaanun” Developing Bridges to Our Heritage, North Slope Borough Iņupiaq History, Language and History Commission Conference in Barrow, Alaska, March 25, 2008

1992                            WHY DON'T WE GIVE OUR CHILDREN TO OUR NATIVE

LANGUAGES?, paper presented at a conference at the University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California.  

1986 & 2008   The Revitalization of the Qargi, the Traditional Community House as an

Educational Unit of the Iņupiat Community , presented at the Alaska

Anthropological Association Symposium On “Policy and Planning for Alaskan Languages”, Fairbanks, Alaska, March 8, 1986 and at the North Slope Borough Iņupiaq History, Language, and Culture Commission Elders and Youth Conference, Barrow, Alaska, August 5, 2008.

Spring 1996       Member of Phi Kappa Phi

Spring 1991       Member of Pi Lambda Theta

Spring 1987:      Awarded Tenure at University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.

7/87:                  Promoted to Associate Professor of Iņupiaq-Eskimo, Alaska Native Language Program, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

1976 - 1992:     Numerous presentations and workshops at conferences and seminars on Native American language and education issues.

10/2006             2006 Governor’s Awards for the Humanities, Distinguished Service to the Humanities Award, Anchorage, Alaska. 

2005                  President Emeritus of Ilisagvik College, Barrow, Alaska.

2004                  ShareHolder of the Year, Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, Barrow, Alaska.

10/17/2003        Alumni Hall of Fame, Native American Cultural Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.

09/2003             Certificate of Achievement for success in achieving the first fully accredited, Native-controlled College (Ilisagvik College) in the State of Alaska for the Inupiat Communities of the Arctic Slope, from the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, IRA, Barrow, Alaska.

08/2003             Certificate of Achievement for guiding the North Slope’s postsecondary education program through the national accreditation process, and achieving the first fully accredited, Native-controlled college in the State of Alaska, Office of the Mayor North Slope Borough and North Slope Borough Assembly, Barrow, Alaska.

06/97                 Certificate of Appreciation, North Slope Borough and Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Barrow, Alaska.

03/96                 Certificate of Recognition for dedicated service provided to the Shareholders of UIC and the People of the North Slope, Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation.

10/95:                AFN Presidents Award for Education, Alaska Federation of Natives.

10/87:                AFN Presidents Award for Education, Alaska Federation of Natives.

8/30/85:             Elected a Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America in recognition of significant contributions to the knowledge of the polar and sub-polar regions.

10/82:                Shareholder Of The Year, Ukpeagvik Iņupiat Corporation, Barrow, Alaska.

12/82:                Certificate Of Special Recognition for contributing toward the positive growth and enhancement of the City of Barrow, Alaska from the City Council, Barrow, Alaska.

2008                  Member of an expert working group on offshore hydrocarbon in the

                     Arctic as part of the project, Arctic TRANSFORM: Transatlantic Policy

                     Options for Supporting Adaptations in the Marine Arctic.

2004 – 2007      Member of Quality Education for Minorities Network, Washington, DC. 

2002-2005        Member of Alaska Humanities Forum

2001- Present    Member of Old Testament Bible Translation Review Committee, Barrow, Alaska.

2001 – 2005      Member of The Foraker Group Operations Board Committee

1998 - 2005      Founding Member and Chairperson of the Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education

1996 - 1999:     Member of the National Science Foundation Polar Programs Office Advisory Committee

1996:                 Volunteer Iņupiaq Reader for the Early Education Program at Ipalook Elementary School, Barrow, Alaska

1996:                 Special Event Presentation to the University of Alaska – Fairbanks School of Education on “Ilisagvik College”

1989 - 1992:     Member of Iņuit Circumpolar Conference Executive Council, Vice President for Alaska.

1987 - 1991:     Member of Committee on Arctic Social Sciences, Polar Research Board, National Research Council.

1978 - 1983:     Member of Iņuit Circumpolar Conference Committee on Education.

1983 - Present: Member of Steering Committee for International Cross-Cultural Education Seminar Series in the Circumpolar North.

1973 - 1983:     Member/President of North Slope Borough Commission on History, Language, and Cultural, Barrow, Alaska.