Cheryl A. Metoyer, associate professor and associate dean for research in the UW Information School, will deliver the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity’s 10th annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture on Thurs., April 24, at Alder Hall.

A reception will be held at 5 p.m. in the Alder Hall Commons, followed by the lecture at 6 p.m. in the auditorium.

Metoyer’s lecture titled “Are We There Yet? The Four Directions in Native American Higher Education” will investigate the challenges and experiences of Native American students in their pursuit of higher education.   

Metoyer is also an adjunct associate professor in American Indian Studies. Her research interests include indigenous knowledge systems (with an emphasis on American Indian and Alaska Native tribal nations) and information-seeking behaviors in cultural communities. Her work is published in major research journals, including “College & Research Libraries,” “Library and Information Science Research,” and “American Indian Culture and Research Journal.” The Association of College and Research Libraries honored her book, "Gatekeepers in Ethnolinguistic Communities."

Metoyer has assisted the Mashantucket Pequot, Cahuilla, San Manuel, Yakama, Navajo, Seneca, Mohawk and the Lakota nations in the development of their research centers, libraries, archives and museums. She has the distinction of being elected the first American Indian delegate to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services.

Before joining the iSchool faculty, Metoyer was the chief academic affairs officer for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. She also served on the faculty of the UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science. From 1993 to 1997, Metoyer held the Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian History at the University of California, Riverside. In 2006, she was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship in the Humanities to pursue her study of Native American systems of knowledge.

Over the years, Metoyer has been a member of several advisory boards, including the Newberry Library D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian History, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Inaugurated in 2005, this annual lecture is named in honor of the late Dr. Kelly, UW’s first vice president for the Office of Minority Affairs (1970), and dedicated to acknowledging the work of distinguished UW faculty by spotlighting nationally recognized research focusing on diversity and social justice.

Past lecturers include Amanda Lock Swarr (Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, 2013); Alexes Harris (Department of Sociology, 2012); Luis Fraga (Department of Political Science, 2011); Richard Ladner (Department of Computer Science and Engineering/Electrical Engineering/Linguistics, 2010); Biren (Ratnesh) Nagda (School of Social Work, 2009); Joy Williamson (College of Education, 2008); Karina Walters (School of Social Work, 2007); Devon G. Pena (Department of Anthropology/American Ethnic Studies, 2006); and Quintard Taylor (Department of History, 2005).

The lecture is free and open to the public. To register, please contact cpromad@uw.edu or call 206-685-9594 by April 21. For more information, visit the Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture web site.