- Details
- By Brian Edwards
- Higher Education
Haskell Indian Nations University has appointed Dr. Alex Red Corn as temporary president through an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment while the Bureau of Indian Education continues its search for a permanent leader.
Red Corn, a citizen of the Osage Nation, will transfer from his current roles as director and associate professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Kansas, where he also serves as associate vice chancellor for sovereign partnerships and Indigenous initiatives. The IPA program allows for temporary assignments of up to two years between federal agencies and eligible organizations.
Red Corn will replace Mackie Moore, dean of Haskell's College of Business, who has served as interim president since former President Frank Arpan announced his resignation in May. Arpan left in June after about two years in the role. A BIE spokesperson told the Lawrence Journal-World that interim appointments at the school were “time-limited by design,” and the transition “reflects the next phase of Haskell's leadership needs.”
The appointment comes as the BIE released a new Strategic Direction establishing goals to improve student outcomes, strengthen Native language and culture and enhance operational effectiveness across Bureau-funded schools through 2030.
Haskell enrolled 946 students for fall 2025, maintaining high enrollment despite budget concerns. Moore said in August that the university was fully funded for the 2025-26 academic year despite Trump administration proposals to slash BIE higher education funding by roughly 90%, according to reporting in the Lawrence Times.
The search for a permanent president also comes as legislation that would transfer governance of Haskell from the Bureau of Indian Education to a tribal-led board of regents remains pending in Congress. The Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act, introduced in June by Sens. Jerry Moran, Roger Marshall and Markwayne Mullin and U.S. Reps. Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt, would establish the university as a federally chartered corporation while maintaining federal funding.
Red Corn founded the Indigenous Educational Leadership Graduate Certificate program at Kansas State University before moving it to the University of Kansas in 2025. He has led partnership programs with the Osage Nation that increased the number of graduates with master's degrees in education and previously served as executive director of the Kansas Association for Native American Education.
He holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Kansas State University and master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Kansas.
