Dr. S. Gabe Paxton, Jr., a Choctaw Indian, has been appointed to serve as Deputy Director, Office of Indian Education Programs, Kenneth L. Smith, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.
Most recently, Paxton held positions of Area Vocational Development Officer and Area Indian Self Determination Officer at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Muskogee Area Office in Muskogee, Oklahoma. In 1977 he was the Associate Deputy Commissioner for Indian Education in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Since joining the Bureau in 1953, Paxton has served in positions of increasing responsibility at the Colorado River Agency, Hopi Agency, and Pima Agency in Arizona, at Sherman Indian High School in California, and at the Sequoyah Indian School in Oklahoma. From 1970 to 1974 he was the Assistant Area Director for Education at the Bureau's Anadarko Area Office in Anadarko, Oklahoma.
Paxton received a B.S. degree from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1951, a M.A. degree from Northern Arizona University in 1964, and a Doctor of Education Degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1974.
He was born January 18, 1925, in Talihina, Oklahoma.
