Melissa M Peterson

Since stepping foot on KU’s campus in 2015, Peterson has been a strong advocate for students. She not only advocates for Native Americans at KU but has a strong commitment to advance the support for underserved students, first-generation college students like herself, and students who are Pell-eligible. As demonstrated in the commitment to the work she now leads through Hawk Link and the MSP Scholars Program.

Peterson, born and raised on the Navajo Nation is of the T ł 'ízí lání clan (Many Goats) born for the Todích'íí'nii clan (Bitter Water), previously served as Director of Tribal Relations, and prior to that role, she served as an associate director for KU TRIO Supportive Educational Services & STEM, and assisted the Haskell/KU Exchange Program. Before working at KU, Peterson served as head coach of the Haskell Indian Nations University volleyball team and later assisted the Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools grant at Haskell.

For her efforts in making significant contributions to Indian Country, Peterson was named to The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (The National Center) 2022 class of Native American 40 Under 40 award recipients. Most recently, Peterson has been named the Associate Executive Director for the Kansas Association of Native American Education (KANAE) and appointed to the Kansas Advisory Council for Indigenous Education (KACIE) by the Kansas Board of Regents. 

Peterson earned her bachelor’s degree in community health from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2008, where she was also a member of the volleyball and women’s basketball teams. Peterson holds a masters of public health degree from the KU Medical Center and a doctor of education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies - Higher Education Administration from KU.