Dr. Amanda Cobb-Greetham is making a transition from her work as Administrator of the Chickasaw Nation Division of History and Culture back to life as a university professor. Dr. Cobb-Greetham has begun serving as a tenured Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma State University, specializing in Native American Studies.
She will continue in her role as editor of the Chickasaw Press. She will also continue to research and write about the Chickasaw Nation and curate museum exhibits.
"Serving as the administrator of History and Culture under Governor Anoatubby's leadership has been amazing," said Dr. Cobb-Greetham. "I am grateful for every day of the experience and for all of the people with whom I have worked. However, I started my career as a professor and feel a deep need to teach and write—about Chickasaw history and culture. I am excited to begin a new chapter of service to the Chickasaw people."
Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said that Dr. Cobb-Greetham will continue to be an asset to the Chickasaw Nation.
"Amanda has done an excellent job as administrator of the Division of History and Culture," said Gov. Anoatubby. "We appreciate her important role in advancing our efforts to preserve and revitalize Chickasaw history and culture."
Cobb-Greetham served as administrator of Chickasaw Nation Division of History and Culture. from 2007 to 2012. She helped launch the state-of-the-art Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, OK, which recently received a state tourism award.
She also directed the Chickasaw Nation's museums, libraries and archives, language programs, and the Chickasaw Press, the first tribal publishing house of its kind. The Chickasaw Press received the Harvard Award for Excellence in Tribal Self-Governance and two Oklahoma Book Awards during her tenure.
She is the editor of one of the foremost peer-reviewed journals in Native American Studies, American Indian Quarterly.
Cobb-Greetham is the author of Listening to Our Grandmothers' Stories: The Bloomfield Academy for Chickasaw Females, 1852-1949 (2000) which was selected as a winner of the American Book Award as well as the North American Indian Prose Award.
Cobb-Greetham, with Jeannie Barbour and Linda Hogan, authored Chickasaws: Unconquered and Unconquerable (2006), the first book published by the Chickasaw Press.
She also co-edited a collection of essays with Amy Lonetree titled The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations, which was released by the University of Nebraska Press in 2008.
After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1997, she served as an Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University and then as a tenured Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico. As a professor specializing in Native American Studies, she founded and served as the first director of the Institute for American Indian Research.
Her current research examines the state of Oklahoma's American Indian identity as it is manifested in popular culture, including commemorations, sculpture, performances, and museums beginning with the famous "marriage" of Miss Indian Territory to Mr. Oklahoma Territory on the steps of the Capitol at the time of statehood.
She has published articles in such peer-reviewed journals as American Quarterly, American Studies, Studies in American Indian Literature, and American Indian Quarterly.
Cobb-Greetham participated in the Americans for Indian Opportunity Ambassador's Program and is now a member of AIO's board.
She also serves on the board of the American Association of Tribal Libraries and Museums, and the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
