Scott Richard Lyons

A former director of Native American studies programs at the University of Michigan and elsewhere, Professor Lyons specializes in Native American literature and culture. His publications include X-Marks: Native Signatures of Assent (2010), The World, the Text, and the Indian: Global Dimensions of Native American Literature (2017), and a diverse array of essays. He was once a newspaper columnist for Indian Country Today. An old-fashioned generalist at heart, Lyons also teaches courses on the history of the short story, Catholic literature, totalitarianism, and the mimetic theory of René Girard. His academic honors include the Beatrice Medicine Award, given for distinguished scholarship in Native American studies, and the Henry Russel Award, Michigan's highest midcareer award. The Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers gave him a Best Journalism award for his newspaper columns. Lyons is a founding member of the Kateri Institute for Catholic Studies and the Indigenous Catholic Research Fellowship. A defender of academic freedom and free speech, Professor Lyons is a proud member of the Academic Freedom Alliance and Heterodox Academy. He is a 2024-25 Inklings Project Fellow. 

Descending from not one but two Minnesota tribes – the Mississippi Ojibwe of Leech Lake and the Mdewakanton Dakota of Lower Sioux (as well as a few immigrant tribes) – his first schooling experience was in Leech Lake Reservation's Head Start program, and his first permanent academic position was at Leech Lake Tribal College. Lyons considers himself a humble family man and an avid motorcyclist, usually but not always in that order.