Promotions of George E. Schmidt to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs' branch of industrial development, and Charles P. Corke as assistant to the Assistant Commissioner for Economic Development, were announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash.
Schmidt commenced his new assignment February 15. Corke, who served tor ten years as irrigation engineer and land operations officer with the United Pueblos Agency in Albuquerque, N. M., assumed his new duties late last year.
Schmidt, recipient of a superior performance award in 1962, joined the Bureau in 1958 as an industrial development specialist at Bismarck, N. D., and two years later transferred to the BIA area office at Aberdeen, S. D. Under his direction 11 industrial or tribal enterprises have been established in the Indian areas of the Dakotas and Nebraska during the past three years, providing employment opportunities for Indians.
In his new job Schmidt will supervise the multi-faceted program aimed at enlarging Indian job opportunities by encouraging the establishment of private industries in the vicinity of reservations.
A native of Huron, S. D., Schmidt graduated from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion in 1939 with a B.S. in Business Administration and did graduate work at Huron College, S. D. He served in the Navy from June 1944 to December 1945.
Corke began his Federal career as a hydrologic engineer with the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation in Grand Island, Neb., in 1948, and also served with Reclamation in Albuquerque, N. M., and Eureka, Calif. He transferred in 1945 to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A native of Studley, Kan., Corke graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1948 with a B.S. degree in civil engineering. He served in World War II as a naval officer.
Corke is filling a newly created post. Schmidt is succeeding John R. Bernstrom, who recently transferred to another agency.
