Lisa Emmerich

Oustanding Faculty Service 2001/2002

Lisa Emmerich, professor of history, is an American Indian scholar, environmentalist, and mentor of students. She believes that people can make a difference in the world if they think about “what they might be able to do in addition to what they are already doing.” Service grows, she says, “when you latch onto something that you find exciting or that you’re passionate about.”

In 2001, in addition to teaching full time and publishing articles, Emmerich served on nine departmental or campus committees, coordinated the American Indian Studies Program, co-coordinated the Multicultural and Gender Studies fifth annual senior symposium, and presented a paper at the Anthropology Forum. She was also the Herbert Hoover symposium keynote speaker, a CELT panelist, a docent at Dye Creek Ranch, secretary and board member of the Chico Creek Nature Center, and stayed active in her church. She also serves on the steering committee of Phi Alpha Theta International History Honorary Society.

American Indian Studies and the American West have been Emmerich’s lifelong passions, and she serves as faculty adviser to the American Indian Club/Indigenous Studies Alliance, this year receiving the Myles Tracy Outstanding Faculty Adviser Award. Emmerich’s research has focused on late 19th-century and 20th-century topics related to American Indian women, health care issues, and assimilation issues. In the future, Emmerich hopes to expand her work with American Indian students on campus and to become more involved with American Indian K–12 students.

Emmerich’s interest in Native American history has led to her support of several local environmental organizations. “Working with Native people,” she says, “and learning from them about their connection to the earth as a living thing and not just a pit stop for us on the way to somewhere else has really encouraged me to become aware of opportunities for service.”