Outstanding Alumni - 2003
Roger Aikten
Bemidji State University Graduate 1973
Mr. Roger Aitken graduated from BSU in 1973 with a double major Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and Sociology. Following graduation, Roger worked for the Indian Education Section of the MN State Department of Education, then as Director of the State Wide Indian Talent Search Program at BSU. Roger served as the Executive Director of the Leech Lake Reservation Tribal Council for a total of 12 years on two separate six years occasions. He worked for one year as a special projects officer for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. He served as the Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Minnesota Agency for six years. While at the BIA, Roger established a volunteer business & economic development committee that assisted American Indians with business opportunities and business loan application procedures. Most recently Roger served as the first Executive Director of Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes. MAST is an intertribal consortium made up of the 36 federally recognized tribes in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa. Last month, Roger accepted a position as Director, Central Purchasing Division within the Business Corporation of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Cass Lake, Minnesota. Roger has made a lifetime commitment to volunteerism. He has been instrumental in the growth & development the Leech Lake Tribal College, currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Trustees the past three years. He is a member of the team leading the tribal college on two major projects this year, including full accreditation and the construction of a new $20M campus facility. Roger and his wife, Linda, make their home in Walker, Minnesota.