Robert Cook

President of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA)

Robert Cook is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (Oglala Lakota) and works as the Cultural Affairs/Education Outreach Specialist at Crazy Horse Memorial. Robert is married to Daphne Richards-Cook (Oglala), and together they have two sons, Lamont and Caleb. Both boys are Indian Head Start graduates and attend public school in Rapid City, South Dakota. Lamont, a ninth grader, and Caleb, a fourth grader, both play violin and are active in the school orchestra program. Robert’s wife, Daphne, serves on the Rapid City School District School Board and is the first American Indian ever elected to serve on the school board level in Rapid City.

Robert attended Brigham Young University and graduated from Black Hills State University in South Dakota with a degree in Secondary Education. He is proud to be a tribal college graduate and received his master’s degree in Education Administration from Oglala Lakota College. Robert has eighteen years of teaching and administrative experience in American Indian education. 

Robert has been the recipient of many education awards and honors that include Little Wound School Educator of the Year in 1998 and 1999, Lower Brule Teacher of the Year 2000–2001, South Dakota’s Milken National Educator in 2005, Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation Teacher of the Year 2006, and NIEA’s Teacher of the Year 2006. In 2008 he was named one of Black Hills State University’s 125 Most Accomplished Alumni.

Robert is proud to serve on several organizations that include the Technical Review Panel of the National Indian Education Study, the South Dakota Indian Education Advisory Council, the Rapid City School District PAC, the South Dakota Charter School Advocacy Group, and the Stern Foundation Board of Directors. He is also a Kiwanis member and his son’s Little League baseball coach.

Robert’s educational and professional goals include a Doctorate in Education and to continue to work or serve professionally in some level of American Indian education and advocacy.