She was the founder and director of the Indian Education office at Oregon State University where she established numerous programs to recruit and retain Native students and faculty. Recently, she served on the Biological Sciences advisory board for the National Science Foundation and as a consultant for the AIHEC and Alliance for Equity in Higher Education’s initiative to train future administrators in the Minority Serving Institution’s Leadership Fellows Institute. She earned a doctorate in education and management at the University of Oregon, and a master’s in counselor education and bachelor’s in social work at the University of Wyoming.

Although born and raised in Laramie, Wyo., she grew up in a very traditional Dine home. She expresses her heritage in traditional Dine terms, that of being born into the Towering House clan which is her mother’s clan and born for her father’s Salt clan.  She fondly refers to her homeland as Naschitti and Tohatchi, located on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, where her family visited every weekend.

Manuelito-Kerkvliet’s family has a long tradition of valuing education. Her great, great grandfather was the renowned Chief Manuelito of the Navajo Nation who told his people, “Education is the ladder to success. Tell my grandchildren to climb the ladder.” He was one of the signers of the 1868 treaty that brought the Dine back to their homeland after their tragic exile to Fort Sumner. More than 5,000 Navajo people were said to have perished during the infamous “Long Walk” between their homeland and Fort Sumner, some 300 miles away.

Manuelito-Kerkvliet credits her family and ancestors for her success and expresses a deep gratitude for their sacrifices that allowed her to grow into a leadership role.

“The holy ones have made a perfect place for me,” she says. “I really believe that I am in the right place.”

--Mary Annette Pember