Celebrating the 2023 Henrietta Mann Leadership Award Recipient
The Dr. Henrietta Mann Leadership Award is presented to Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian) individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to Native students, advancing Indigenous communities and fostering the development of future leaders. This award honors and acknowledges those individuals who exemplify the spirit of Dr. Mann’s legacy.
Dr. Michele Yatchmeneff, Executive Director for Alaska Native Education & Outreach, Associate Professor Civil Engineering
at University of Alaska Anchorage
Dr. Michele Yatchmeneff is an Unangax̂ woman who grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle in the rural villages of King Cove and False Pass, along Alaska's Aleutian chain. She has worked at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) since 2007, as faculty since 2015, and was promoted to associate professor of engineering in 2021. Dr. Yatchmeneff has committed her career to improve Alaska Native success and was hired to serve on UAA’s Chancellor’s cabinet in an inaugural position as Executive Director for Alaska Native Education and Outreach in October 2021.
Dr. Yatchmeneff was an Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP) Scholar and Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholar at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she earned a **** in Civil Engineering in 2005 and an MS in Engineering Management in 2009. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she began working in Alaska's construction and engineering industry, specializing in water and sewer projects in remote villages across the state. She also served as ANSEP deputy director from 2007 to 2012. Dr. Yatchmeneff went on to earn her PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University, focusing on the motivation and success of Alaska Native pre-college STEM students. Her current research expands that doctoral work to focus on belongingness, Alaska Native education, preparation, and retention. In 2018, Dr. Yatchmeneff received the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award, honoring her work on “Alaska Native Belonging in High School Math and Science Classrooms.”
Dr. Yatchmeneff has made valuable contributions to the development of both pre-college and undergraduate courses to foster critical thinking, engineering identity growth, and an understanding of real-life engineering projects. She is inspiring a new generation of underrepresented students to succeed in college and the engineering profession.
NASAI Committee Co-Chairs Joel Truesdell and Dr. Samantha Benn-Duke present Dr. Michele Yatchmeneff with the Henrietta Mann Leadership Award