Dr. Joe Shirley Jr., president of the Navajo Nation and a 1973 graduate of Abilene Christian University, will visit his alma mater to talk with students, faculty, staff and community about his work and life Monday, April 6.
"We are very excited about bringing Dr. Shirley to our campus and to the city of Abilene," said George Pendergrass, director of the office of multicultural enrichment at ACU. "We would like for this to be an occasion that engages not only ACU and the Native Americans on our campus, but a wide variety of citizens and key public officials in the city of Abilene."
April 6, Shirley will speak in chapel at 11 a.m. and at an evening chapel symposium entitled, "Meet the President," at 7:30 p.m.
Although Shirley is a social worker by profession, he has an extensive career in public service that extends beyond his years serving as president. Previously he served 13 years as a legislator on the 88-member Navajo Nation Council and 18 years as supervisor of Arizona’s Apache County. In 2007, because of Shirley's many accomplishments as a Christian leader he was awarded the ACU Distinguished Alumni Citation Award.
"I didn’t have my mind set on anything but being the best social worker I could be, and I'd like to think I was an effective one," Shirley said in the winter 2008 edition of ACU Today. "People saw what I was able to do, and maybe thought I had the potential to be a good public servant as well."
Shirley earned an associate degree from Magic Valley Christian College in 1968, a bachelor's degree in business from ACU in 1973 and a master's degree in social work from Arizona State University in 1978. Shirley also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Arizona State University in 2005.
The Navajo Nation is the largest of the 562 federally recognized tribes of Native Americans. Shirley and his wife, Vikkie and their six children are lifelong residents of Chinle, a canyon-side community in northwestern Arizona, where they attend the Gallup Church of Christ in New Mexico.
If you are a member of the media who would like more information about this release, please contact ACU's Public Relations Office or call (325) 674-2696.
