Manley A. Begay Jr.

Dr. Manley A. Begay, Jr. is both director of the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) in the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and senior lecturer/associate social scientist in the American Indian Studies Program at The University of Arizona (UofA). He teaches courses on nation-building, curriculum development, and indigenous education. He is also co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (HPAIED), John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. While teaching at UofA and working with NNI and HPAIED, Dr. Begay serves as a member of the: Aboriginal Program Advisory Committee, Aboriginal Leadership and Self-Government Program, The Banff Centre for Management, Banff, Alberta, Canada; National Advisory Board for the Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies, Department of Anthropology and the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico; Governing Council, National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education, University of New Mexico; and Board of Directors, Four Times Foundation, Red Lodge, Montana.

He has served as a: lecturer in the Administration, Planning, and Social Policy and Learning and Teaching areas on education at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE); member of Board of Trustees of the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.; member of the Board of Directors, The Medical Foundation; Faculty Advisory Board member, Harvard Native American Program, Harvard University; and member of Board of Directors, Tuba City Wellness Center, Navajo Nation. He has worked as a consultant for First Nations and bands in Canada, American Indian nations, The University of Auckland in New Zealand, federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada, curriculum development specialist and researcher, and reviewer for several major textbook publishing and film companies. Furthermore, his research and consulting experience has focused on projects about and for indigenous nations in the promotion of strong and effective institutions of self-governance and leadership. He has also presented on a variety of topics from Native leadership to curriculum development and from historical and contemporary Native American issues to American Indian economic development and indigenous nation building at numerous colleges and universities, private and public high schools, conferences, institutes, and symposia.

Prior to working with the HPAIED and NNI, he was a principal and assistant principal on the Navajo Nation and high school teacher on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. He received his A.A. from Navajo Community College (1975); B.A. in Education from University of Arizona (1977); M.Ed. (1984) and Ed.Spec. (1985) in Educational Administration from Brigham Young University; M.Ed. (1989) in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; and Ed.D. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University (1997). His doctoral dissertation was titled: Leading By Choice, Not Chance: Leadership Education for Native Chief Executives of American Indian Nations.

Dr. Begay was born in Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation (AZ) and raised in Tuba City via Wheatfields, Navajo Nation (AZ), and his maternal clan is Ma'ii Deesgiizhinii (Coyote Pass - Jemez Clan); paternal clan is Taachii'nii (Red Running into the Water People) and maternal grandfather's clan is Lok'aa dine'e (Reed People) and paternal grandfather's clan is Todichi'ii'nii (Bitter Water People). He is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, married to Carol Goldtooth-Begay, and her maternal clan is Kinyaa'aanii (Towering House People) and paternal clan is Biih bitoodnii (Deer Springs People); maternal grandfather is Tl'izi lani (Manygoats People) and paternal grandfather is Tl'aashchi'i (Red Bottom People). He is the father of a 26 year-old daughter, Mandalyn Echo Cody Begay, and 22 year-old son, Manasseh Cody Begay. As of July 5, 2000, he became a grandfather to Monoka.

Contact:
Tel. (520) 884-4393
Email: mbegay@u.arizona.edu