Philleo Nash, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, today took the oath of office as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior auditorium. He succeeds Glenn L. Emmons who resigned effective January 20.
Nash, 51, has had a career in government service, private business and higher education.
In addition to serving as lieutenant governor of Wisconsin from 1959 to 1961, he was a special assistant and administrative assistant to President Truman, specializing in Department of Interior matters, from 1946 to 1953. For four years prior to the White House assignment he was a special assistant to the Director of the Office of War Information, the late Elmer Davis.
As a student and lecturer in anthropology, Nash has had an active interest in Indian affairs throughout his adult life. Earlier this year he was a member of Secretary Udall’s Task Force on Indian Affairs which completed its study and submitted its report on July 12.
Born at Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., in 1909, Nash graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1932 and received a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago five years later. From 1937 to 1941 he was a lecturer on anthropology at the University of Toronto.
In the private business field he has been president of the Biron Cranberry Company at Wisconsin Rapids since 1946 and is currently president of the Wisconsin Cranberry Growers Association.
He is a member of Sigma Xi (the honorary science society), the American Anthropological Association, the Society of Applied Anthropology, and the Cosmos Club of Washington.
He married the former Edith Rosenfels in 1935 and they have two daughters.
