Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Phyllis Cross, a Mandan-Hidatsa, and Intergovernmental Relations Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her appointment was effective March 30.
Ms. Cross has been Special Assistant to the Regional Director for Indian Affairs, Region VIII, in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She had previously served as Special Assistant to the Regional Director for the Regional Council.
A native of Elbowoods, North Dakota, Ms. Cross received her elementary and secondary education at BIA schools on the Fort Berthold Reservation. She then completed nursing training at the St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota. She spent five years as a United States Air Force nurse and returned to school to earn BS and MS degrees at the University of Colorado. She has specialized in Public Health and Psychiatric nursing.
Ms. Cross was Director of Nursing for the Boulder, Colorado, City County Health Department and Associate Director of Nursing at the University of Colorado Medical Center, Denver, before entering Federal service as a Mental Health Program Specialist with HEW in 1970.
