Former Keetoowah Cherokee Chief Jim Henson to be Awarded Honorary Doctorate by FAU

Florida Atlantic University will bestow an honorary doctorate on Jim Henson, a former tribal chief of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, for his extensive work promoting the health and wellbeing of Native Americans and indigenous people worldwide at the summer commencement ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. at the Carole and Barry Kaye Auditorium, FAU Student Union, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus.

Most recently, Henson collaborated with a Native American professor, John Lowe, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, of FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing in securing a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for a five-year research project to test the effectiveness of the Native American Talking Circle approach in preventing substance abuse in Native American youth. The project will focus on sixth graders in three tribal communities: the Ojibwe/Chippewa in Minnesota, the Choctaw in Oklahoma and the Lumbee in North Carolina. Project sessions will work toward increasing students’ cultural identity as Native Americans while decreasing substance abuse. Tribal personnel in the three regions will be trained on implementing the Talking Circle as a permanent intervention tool in their communities.

Annually, about 150 FAU nursing students engage with Henson during their intensive clinical practicum rotation in the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians’ capital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Henson is also a frequent guest lecturer at the College, presenting to faculty and students on Native American culture and consulting on various research projects. During a visit to the Boca Raton campus, he conducted a Talking Circle for members of the FAU community.

“We are so pleased that the University is recognizing Chief Jim Henson with an honorary doctorate,” said Marlaine Smith, Ph.D., dean of FAU’s College of Nursing. “His tireless effort and expertise in working with indigenous populations around the world has been an asset to the College.”

 Last Modified 11/8/16