Thomas H. Tommany, a Creek Indian from Oklahoma, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Haskell Institute at Lawrence, Kansas.
Established in 1884 as a boarding high school, and the alma mater of numerous Indians prominent in public life today, Haskell moved into a new phase in its , history last year. The high school program was closed out, new curricula and facilities were created, and Haskell became the first Indian school offering vocational and technical training exclusively at the post-secondary level.
Tommany, 53, is a graduate of the University of Kansas who also holds a graduate degree in education from the University of Oklahoma. He has served as teacher, counselor and administrator in a number of BIA schools during the past 27 years. For two years prior to his new appointment he served as assistant general superintendent of schools and other community services for Navajos. He is a member of Phi Delta Kappa education fraternity and the American Association of School Administrators.
In announcing his appointment, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash said: “Mr. Tommany brings to Haskell, in this new period of the school's long history, not only the rich experience of his professional career but the special insight that an Indian can bring to the situation of teaching Indian young people."
Tommany succeeds Floyd E. Stayton, who served as Superintendent at Haskell for three years. Stayton will become Director of Schools in the Bureau's Anadarko, Oklahoma Area Office. From this post he will direct the shaping of curricula and goals for six boarding schools which serve Indian students from many parts of the Nation. In addition to Haskell, these include boarding high schools at Chilocco, Riverside and Fort Still, Okla.; an elementary boarding school at Concho, Okla.; and a demonstration school, also at Concho.
