Charles M. "Monty" Roessel

Monty Roessel was an educator, a catalyst for academic innovation, and a higher education leader. In 2017, he became the eighteenth president of Diné College, spearheading its transformation from a two-year institution into a four-year institution. As the first established tribal college in the United States, Diné College has served a predominantly Navajo student population for over fifty years, operating across the 27,000 square miles of the Navajo Nation that spans the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Diné College is a student-centric tribal college focused on complex challenges related to tribal sovereignty, language revitalization, multicultural education, and nation-building. Under Roessel’s leadership, the college established four new transdisciplinary schools, including the School of Diné Studies and Education; the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; the School of Arts, Humanities and English; and the School of Business and Social Science. Rossell launched trailblazing initiatives, including the Navajo Sovereignty Institute, the Navajo Cultural Arts Program, and important steps toward the establishment of the first Navajo law school.

Roessel earned an EdD in administration from Arizona State University. He was an award-winning author, photographer, and journalist. He served on the AAC&U Board of Directors from 2023 until his death in 2025. 

In Memoriam