Albuquerque, N.M.—The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) announced the recipients of the 2016 AISES Professional of the Year Awards. The award categories include Executive Excellence, Technical Excellence, Most Promising Engineer or Scientist, Blazing Flame and the overall award, Professional of the Year. AISES Professional of the Year Awards was established to provide recognition for outstanding American Indian and Alaska Native professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related disciplines. All recipients will be honored at the 2016 AISES National Conference November 10-12, 2016 in Minneapolis, M.N.

The Board Chairman of AISES, Rick Stephens, shared his thoughts on the award nominees, “The individuals nominated for the AISES Professional Awards exemplify the values, traditions, technical expertise, leadership, and passion that are the heart of Native Americans and Indigenous People.   AISES is proud to recognize and honor the award winners and nominees for not only their contributions thus far, but also to show them as role models for those who follow and aspire to be future STEM professionals or support those who follow that path. 

Sarah EchoHawk, AISES CEO, stated, “Each year I am impressed with the caliber of nominees for our Professional Awards. This year was certainly no different except that we had a record number of nominees. This is a truly an elite group of Native American STEM professionals who are more than worthy of recognition for their contributions to STEM and to Indian Country as a whole. I am truly humbled by the collective work of all of the nominees. AISES is fortunate to be associated with such a talented group of individuals.”

Executive Excellence

Executive Excellence nominees must be an experienced upper-level manager or a well-established engineer, scientist, professional, or academician who has significant department and budget responsibilities.

This year the Executive Excellence award is awarded to Richard Johnson (Cherokee) who is a Senior Manager and Functional Chief Engineer for Boeing Commercial Aircraft, The Boeing Company in Seattle, Wash. Richard received his M.S. & B.S in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington. Notably, Richard has five patents, three publications, over ten professional awards and serves on three boards. He is also a Licensed Washington State Professional Engineer. Richard is an active AISES Member for a number of years serving in the capacity of professional member and advisor.

Technical Excellence

The technical excellence nominee must have made a significant contribution to science, engineering or technology by having designed, developed, managed or assisted in the development of a product, service, system or intellectual property.

The Technical Excellence award is awarded to Tara Astigarraga of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Tara received her M.S. Computer Information Systems as well as her B.A. in Spanish Linguistics and Communications from the University of Arizona. Tara currently is the Senior Software Engineer & Master Inventor at IBM. Tara holds 28 issued patents, more than 37 pending patents and 65 patent applications filed. She was awarded AISES Most Promising Engineer award in 2007 and National Women of Color Technology Award: Educational Leadership in 2008.

Most Promising Engineer or Scientist

The Most Promising Engineer or Scientist nominee must be a professional engineer or scientist with less than five years’ experience after earning his/her last degree. The candidate’s early technical contributions should already indicate a promising career.

Michael Dockry, Ph.D., Citizen of Potowatomi Nation is honored with the Most Promising Engineer or Scientist. Michael is a Research Forester for USDA Forest Service in St. Paul, Minn. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Michael’s professional and technical achievements include $1.1 Million for research and $221,769 for educational outreach activities, Associate Editor for the Journal of Forestry, Chair of the American Society for Environmental History Diversity Commitment, 44 papers, 11 policy/land management plans & 15 invited presentations, National & International expert on indigenous forestry and assisted in creating 12 new graduate scholarships targeting minority graduate students.

Blazing Flame

As embedded in the AISES logo, the Blazing Flame Award is presented to an individual who blazes a path for Native Americans in STEM careers. This award recognizes individuals with 10+ years of professional experience with significant accomplishments in advancing STEM education and careers. The nominee may or may not have a technical background.

This year, the Blazing Flame award is awarded to Marie Capitan (Navajo). Marie is the Human Resource Diversity Workforce Specialist at Sandia Labs in Albuquerque, NM. Marie earned her B.A. in Criminology from the University of New Mexico and holds a Professional in Human Resources Certification. Notably, Marie was the American Indian Outreach Committee Chairwoman for five years which instituted several efforts for the American Indian community for Sandia National Lab. 

Professional of the Year

The AISES Professional of the Year Award is presented for overall leadership and technical achievement. This individual is selected from among the top candidates submitted in all categories; therefore, individual nominations are not accepted for this award.

The 2016 AISES Professional of the Year Award is awarded to Dr. Karletta Chief of the Navajo Nation. Dr. Chief is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist-Hydrology in the Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She received her Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona. Dr. Chief partnered with the University of Arizona College of Public Health on two grants which both were funded for over $1 million for environmental justice work on the impact of the Gold King Mine spill in northwestern New Mexico. Dr. Chief has secured more than $6.2 million in research funds and she was the winner of the AISES Most Promising Engineer/Scientist in 2011. Dr. Chief also received the Distinguished Alumni Scholar award from Stanford University in 2013. 

About American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) (http://www.aises.org/)

AISES is a national, Native American nonprofit whose mission is to substantially increase the representation of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, First Nations and other indigenous peoples of North America in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies and careers.  Founded in 1977, with a rapidly expanding membership of more than 4,000 individual members, AISES sustains 189 chartered college and university chapters, 15 professional chapters, and 158 affiliated K-12 schools supporting over 55,000 American Indian students. AISES has awarded over $10.3 million in academic scholarships to over 5,000 American Indian STEM students. Through scholarships and internships, workforce development and career resources, national and regional conferences, science fairs, leadership development and other STEM focused programming, AISES is the leader in STEM opportunities for American Indians. 

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