Janine Pease

Dr. Janine Pease is proof that you can go home again. After spending more than 10 years elsewhere leading in higher education, the celebrated American Indian educator and advocate was appointed head of the Crow Nation’s Education Department in February 2011. Revitalizing the Crow language, especially among its children, is her priority, says Pease, who was most recently vice president for academic and vocational programs at Fort Peck Community College. In 1982, Pease, a former welfare recipient, transformed $50,000 in seed money from her tribe and an abandoned building into Little Big Horn College where she served as founding president for 18 years. Pease earned two bachelor’s degrees at Central Washington University and a master’s and Ph.D. from Montana State University.