Of all the educators doing great work for Native students around the United States, President Obama has singled out Stacy Phelps of Oglala Lakota College for national recognition. Phelps is one of 20 people to be recognized for his mentoring work in science and math. He’s worked with underrepresented students since 1992. His activities focus on increasing the number of Native Americans that succeed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, STEM, and in higher education and are appropriate as they are the most underrepresented group in STEM. Phelps has served as program director, principal investigator, and now department chair, at Oglala Lakota College, one of some 35 tribal colleges in the United States where the majority of students are female, non-traditional and Native American.

Phelps has managed and secured over $32 million in grants focused on college readiness and STEM education for Native American students. In 2003, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology recognized Phelpsas their outstanding recent graduate. He is the youngest person in age and alumnus status to receive this recognition.

Here’s more information from a White House press release:

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday January 6, at his second “Educate to Innovate” Campaign event for excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) education, President Obama will honor educators from across the country for awards received for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and mentoring. The President will also announce key new partnerships in his campaign to help reach the Administration’s goal of moving American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade. In November, President Obama announced a series of high-powered partnerships involving leading companies, foundations, non-profit organizations, and science and engineering societies dedicated to motivating and inspiring young people across America to excel in science and math.

The event will be webcast at www.whitehouse.gov/live Jan 5. More than 80 teachers from across the country are expected to attend this event at the White House. More than 20 mentors are also expected to attend this event at the White House and received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Here’s a list of the 20 awardees:

• Frank T. Bayliss Jr., San Francisco State University, CA

• Laura Lynne J. Bottomley, North Carolina State University, NC

• Goldie S. Byrd, North Carolina A&T State University, NC

• Suzzette F. Chopin, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX

• Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, University of Central Florida , FL

• Patricia A. DeLeon, University of Delaware, DE

• Nancy L. Elwess, SUNY College, Plattsburgh, NY

• Benjamin C. Flores, University of Texas, El Paso, TX

• Susan M. Kauzlarich, University of California, Davis, CA

• Philip Kutzko, University of Iowa, IA

• Cato T. Laurencin, University of Virginia, VA

• Jerzy R. Leszczynski, Jackson State University, MS

• Mary Anne Nelson, University of New Mexico, NM

• Steven B. Oppenheimer, California State University, Northridge, CA

• Stacy Phelps, Chief Executive Officer, The American Indian Institute for Innovation, SD.

Phelps has served as a mentor in two ways. First, he is the driving force behind the creation, development, and expansion of a very successful summer residential pre-college enrichment program. In the second, he worked as an administrator at Oglala Lakota College in 1996. Over the years the name, funding sources, and format have altered, but the mission has remained consistent to increase the number of Native American students that achieve success in higher education through a rigorous, summer residential pre-college enrichment program. Ten cohorts of students have successfully completed a four-year commitment to the program. This model program has expanded and serves 1100 students across South Dakota. He has provided leadership under the NSF funded Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) Initiative. He has organized a state wide tribal college distance education network; guided faculty to create over 10 new STEM degrees; tripled the number of STEM faculty; and constructed over 10 new facilities to support STEM education at tribal colleges in South and North Dakota. Along the way he closely mentored 26 students that began their college careers at OLC. Most of these students have gone onto careers in STEM and many hold leadership positions with their employers. Phelps would like to share the Native Mentoring model with other professionals that work with Native Americans.

“• Ashanti Johnson, University of South Florida and Institute for Broadening Participation, FL

• Kennedy J. Reed, Lawrence Livermore Natl. Lab. and the University of California, CA

• Kenneth S. Sajwan, Savannah State University, GA

• Richard N. Zare, Stanford University, CA

• Leadership Alliance, Providence, RI

• Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket, MA

• Project Exploration, Chicago, IL

Jodi Rave