Patrick Russell LeBeau is Director of the American Indian Studies Program and Associate Professor of American Thought and Language, where he teaches composition and Native American Studies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. LeBeau has published several articles and made many presentations on general topics of Native American history and culture, most recently a chapter in a book on Indian mascots entitled, "The Fighting Braves of Michigamua: Adopting the Visage of American Indian Warriors in the Halls of Academia." In October of 1999, his first book of poetry, Stands Alone, Faces and Other Poems, was published. He is currently working on a book length curriculum unit tentatively titled Michigan Indians Yesterday and Today: A Teacher's Guide and Resource. He is on the board of the Nokomis Native American Cultural Learning Center http://www.nokomis.org/Index.htm

LeBeau is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation of South Dakota, where his father is from. His mother is from Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, North Dakota. http://www.msu.edu/~atl/faculty_staff/lebeau.html