Kevin K. Washburn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kevin Washburn
Washburn in 2010
Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law
Incumbent
Assumed office March 2018
Preceded by	Gail Agrawal
12th Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs
In office October 9, 2012 – January 1, 2016
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Del Laverdure (Acting)
Succeeded by	Tara Sweeney
Dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law
In office 2009–2012
Preceded by	Leo Romero (Acting)
Succeeded by	Barbara Bergman (Acting)
Personal details
Born	(1967-08-09) August 9, 1967 (age 57)
Nationality	American, Chickasaw Nation
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Libby Washburn
Education	University of Oklahoma (BA) Washington University Yale University (JD)

Kevin K. Washburn (born 1967) is an American law professor and a member of the Chickasaw Nation. He has held important roles in law and government. He was the Dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law and is currently the Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law. From 2012 to 2016, he worked for President Barack Obama as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Before that, he was a federal prosecutor and worked for the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as the main lawyer for the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Kevin Washburn's Early Life and Education

Kevin Washburn grew up in Oklahoma with his mother, Shirley Stark, and two siblings. His mother worked for the Chickasaw Nation and later joined their Council of Elders. Kevin graduated from Moore High School.

He went to college at the University of Oklahoma, studying economics and philosophy. After graduating with honors, he started law school at Washington University in St. Louis. He then transferred to Yale Law School, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal on Regulation. He earned his law degree in 1993.

Washburn's Career in Law

Kevin Washburn started his legal career working for Judge William C. Canby Jr., who was an expert in Native American Law.

He then became a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division. In this role, he helped the Salish and Kootenai Tribes gain the right to set their own water quality standards. He also helped the Las Vegas Paiute Native American Tribe get water rights for their land. From 1997 to 2000, he worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in New Mexico.

Leading the National Indian Gaming Commission

From 2000 to 2002, Washburn was the chief lawyer for the National Indian Gaming Commission. This was a busy time as Native American gaming grew, especially in California. He made changes to help the commission work better:

• He made sure that any issues with contracts were clearly explained by law.
• He improved how the commission explained rule violations to the public.
• He helped Native American tribes keep their right to offer certain types of gaming, which was important for their income.

Professor of Law and Legal Scholar

Washburn began teaching law in 2002 at the University of Minnesota Law School. He also taught at Harvard Law School and the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

His research often focuses on federal Native American law and criminal law. He studied how the justice system works on Native American reservations. His work helped lead to the Tribal Law and Order Act in 2010, which aimed to improve public safety in Native American communities.

Washburn is also an expert on the gaming industry, especially Native American gaming. He has written books and articles on the topic and has spoken to Congress about it many times.

Dean at the University of New Mexico School of Law

In 2009, Washburn became the dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law. During his time there, he worked to connect the law school with the wider community. He helped bring in new faculty members and raised money to support students and professors. Important figures like U.S. Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonya Sotomayor visited the school during his leadership. He also helped expand the school's programs, including a program to help free wrongly convicted people using DNA evidence.

Serving in the Obama Administration

In 2012, President Obama chose Kevin Washburn to be the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Senate approved his appointment, and he served until 2016. In this role, he worked to support the self-determination and economic independence of the 567 federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native tribes.

Some of his key achievements included:

• Helping to organize the White House Tribal Nations Conferences, where tribal leaders met directly with President Obama.
• Overseeing the creation of the White House Council of Native American Affairs.
• Working to protect tribal businesses from state taxes to help their economies grow.
• Helping tribes regain control of over half a million acres of land.
• Increasing funding for Indian Affairs programs by half a billion dollars, from $2.3 billion to $2.8 billion.
• Helping the U.S. government settle large legal cases with Native American tribes, including a $940 million settlement with the Ramah Navajo Chapter and a $554 million settlement with the Navajo Nation.
• Working to officially recognize the Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia.

Academia, 2016-Present

After his time in the Obama administration, Washburn returned to teaching law at the University of New Mexico. In 2018, he was named Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law. In 2020, he helped with President Joe Biden's transition team for the Department of the Interior. He plans to retire from his deanship at the University of Iowa in 2024.

Personal Life

Kevin Washburn is married to Elizabeth (Libby) Rodke Washburn. Libby has also held important roles, including working for President Joe Biden on Native American affairs. They have three children.

Expert in Gaming Law

Washburn is a leading expert on gaming and gambling law. He was the main lawyer for the National Indian Gaming Commission from 2000 to 2002. He has written a law school textbook on Gaming Law and often speaks to Congress and courts about Native American gaming issues. He even taught the first course on Gaming/Gambling Law at Harvard Law School.

Expert in Federal Native American Law

Washburn is also a top expert in federal Native American law. He has co-authored important books and articles on the subject, including a main textbook called American Indian Law: Native Nations and the Federal System. He is also an editor for Felix Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law, which is a very important guide in this field.

Affiliations and Awards

Kevin Washburn has been involved with many important organizations:

• He is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
• He served on the Board of Trustees for the Law School Admission Council, even becoming chairman.
• He is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation.
• In 2015, he received the American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award.
• In 2017, he was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame.

See also

• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• University of New Mexico School of Law
• University of Iowa College of Law