Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn. Photo from Bureau of Indian Affairs

Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is being honored by the American Bar Association.

Washburn, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, will receive the ABA's Spirit of Excellence Award. He will be presented with the honor at the organization's midyear meeting next month in Houston, Texas.

“Kevin Washburn has served America and our legal profession with the highest integrity and professionalism," F. John Garza, the chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, said in a press release. "He began as a federal law clerk, served as a federal prosecutor, educated the next generation of attorneys as an author, law professor and dean, and now serves as the 12th assistant secretary — Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior."

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American Bar Association to honor Kevin Washburn (UNM News 1/12)