UW–Madison alumnus David O’Connor has been named the 2021 “Indian Educator of the Year” by the Wisconsin Indian Education Association (WIEA).
O’Connor earned a master’s degree in 2013 from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. He is currently an education consultant with the American Indian Studies Program in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
WIEA’s Indian Educator of the Year award honors an enrolled tribal member who, by leadership, vision, creativity and commitment, has contributed to the quality and opportunities in education for American Indian people in Wisconsin.
O’Connor is originally from, and is a member of, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) in northern Wisconsin. In his role with DPI, he supports school districts’ efforts to provide instruction on the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of Wisconsin’s American Indian nations and tribal communities, and the education of Native American students.