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OMA&D’s Ross Braine Named 2015 UW Distinguished Staff Award Recipient

Iisaaksiichaa Ross Braine, director of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House and the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity’s tribal liaison, will be honored as one of five Distinguished Staff Award recipients at the UW’s 45th annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony on Thur., June 11, at 3:30 p.m., in Meany Hall Auditorium.

Ross Braine offers remarks at the groundbreaking for wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House.
Ross Braine offers remarks at the groundbreaking for wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House. Photo: Emile Pitre

Established in 1997, the award recognizes individuals or teams based on their extraordinary accomplishments and contributions to their departments and the University.

Braine (Apsaalooke Nation), ’09, ’15, is the first director of the UW’s recently opened longhouse-style facility that is as a multi-service learning and gathering space for Native American students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater UW community. Braine played a key role in the recent efforts to complete the first phase of the 40-plus year project and manages all aspects of the building operation.

As the UW’s tribal liaison since 2012, Braine fosters relationships with Native American communities and tribal sovereign governments of the Pacific Northwest. He travels throughout the region to conduct outreach activities for K-12 Native students in collaboration with various OMA&D and UW partners. He also mentors current UW students and organizes the annual UW Tribal Leadership Summit, a government-to-government conversation between University and regional tribal leaders. In May 2012, Braine moderated a learning session on how to improve urban Indian education. The session was a White House initiative in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education.

This week, Braine will receive a master of science in information management degree.

eNews Header Fall 2015According to one of his nominators, “Ross’ dedicated work and advocacy with Native American student and faculty groups not only enriches OMA&D, but our entire campus. It also enriches the entire community given his extensive involvement with outreach and volunteering.”

Prior to his current roles, Braine worked as a counselor with OMA&D’s Educational Talent Search, a federally-funded program that provides support services to limited-income and first-generation college bound students in Skagit, Snohomish and Yakima counties.

Also receiving the 2015 UW Distinguished Staff Awards are Carolyn Chow (director of admissions and multicultural student affairs, Nursing), Katy Folk-Way (associate director, Creative Communications), Irawati Lam (registered nurse, Radiation Oncology) and Stephen Weber (access services supervisor, University Libraries).

Learn more about the other 2015 UW Awards of Excellence Recipients on the honors and awards web site