Carole Falcon-Chandler, long-time president of Aaniiih Nakoda College, a tribal college located on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana, passed away on April 23. She was 85 years old.
Falcon-Chandler served Aaniiih Nakoda College for nearly three decades. She served as dean of students for eight years, followed by 20 years as president. During her tenure, oversaw the establishment of several new academic offerings including a department of American Indian studies, an associate’s degree in nursing and a registered nursing program, and the college’s first bachelor’s degree in Aaniiih Nakoda ecology. Additionally, Falcon-Chandler implemented various professional programs for faculty and staff with a focus on American Indian representation. At the time she assumed her presidency in 2000, the college had no American Indian faculty members. As of 2020, the faculty is now 75 percent American Indian, 42 percent of whom are Aaniiih Nakoda College alumni.
Throughout her career in academia, Falcon-Chandler was dedicated to advancing American Indian higher education. She served two terms as a member of the American Indian College Fund board of trustees, and was appointed as the fund’s president for the 2009 term. Falcon-Chandler also served on the board of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the Montana State University Council of Elders, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and the American Council on Education’s Commission on Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity.
Falcon-Chandler held a bachelor’s degree in human services from what is now Montana State University Billings.