Rickie Sanders
Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University

Rickie Sanders is Professor of Geography/Urban Studies and Director of Women's Studies at Temple University. Her publications include Growing Up in America: An Atlas of Youth in America (with Mark Mattson - Macmillan Publishers, 1998); Senior Consultant on World Geography (with James Petersen, Marci Smith Deal, and Daniel Arreola - Houghton Mifflin/McDougall-Littell Publishers, 2001); and numerous articles. She recently worked on a Legislative Atlas for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with Kikombo Ngoy, Michael Rodriguez and Anne Shlay. Sanders’ professional service includes the Workshop on Geography in the 21st Century, the Varenius Geographic Information Project’s Transitions from Childhood to the Workforce Workshop, the Publications Committee of the National Council for Geographic Education, and National Association of Educational Progress/Educational Testing Service.

Sanders has also received numerous awards and honors including the Gilbert Grosvenor Award for Outstanding Teaching (2002), the Eleanor Hofkin Award for Outstanding Teaching from the College of Liberal Arts/Temple University (2001); the Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Council for Geographic Education (1996); and a Distinguished Minority Alumni Award from Ohio State University (1989). The Finding A Way Project under her directorship received the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award Special Commendation from the American Association of University Women.

Rennard Strickland
Philip H. Knight Professor of Law, School of Law, University of Oregon

A legal historian of Osage and Cherokee heritage, Professor Strickland is considered a pioneer in introducing Indian law into university curriculum. He has written and edited more than 35 books and is frequently cited by courts and scholars for his work as revision editor in chief of the Handbook of Federal Indian Law. Strickland has been involved in the resolution of a number of significant Indian cases. He was the founding director of the Center for the Study of American Indian Law and Policy at the University of Oklahoma. He is the first person to have served both as president of the Association of American Law Schools and as chair of the Law School Admissions Council. He is also the only person to have received both the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) Award and the American Bar Association's Spirit of Excellence Award. Strickland was the dean of the law school from 1997 to 2002.

Professor Strickland had earlier addressed the importance of place in a short story called "Sacred Places of the Heart and Soul" about the experiences of a fictional DC Native American Lawyer (Jake Page (ed.), Sacred Lands of Indian America, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001).

The Keynote Luncheon featuring Dr. Strickland is co-sponsored by the Association of American Law Schools