Consortium Member Biography

ALLEN R. BRANUM, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

  Al Branum is Acting Director for Diversity Enhancement and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at South Dakota State University. Al completed his Ph.D. at the University of Montana and then served SDSU for 30 years as a faculty member. During that time, Al held appointments as Head of the Department of Psychology, Director of the University Honors Program, Assistant Dean for the College of Arts and Science, and Director of Sioux Falls SDSU Programs. He retired in 2000 but returned in 2002 to serve in his present position. Al's responsibilities are to promote diversity enhancement in all its aspects across the university, including recruitment and retention of minority students and faculty members, facilitating extracurricular diversity experiences for students and staff, integrating diversity information and themes into university curricula and pedagogy, and providing direct diversity education for faculty, staff, and students. As part of his duties, he oversees the service-learning program implemented at SDSU by the International Partnership for Service-Learning & Leadership that is coordinated on campus by Valerian Three Irons. All service placements are currently with American Indian Reservations. Al is working to expand service learning to involve other sites and more departments and students at SDSU.