Cecil King is an Odawa from Wikwemikong, and a residential school survivor. He obtained his BEd (1973), and his MEd (1975) through the INEP program. He received a PhD in 1983 from the University of Calgary through the Department of Policy and Administrative studies. He has spent fifty years in education as a teacher, professor, researcher, and consultant. He was one of the founders of the Indian Teacher Education Program, and served as it’s first director. He was Head of the Indian and Northern Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as Dean of the Saskatchewan Campus of the First Nations University of Canada. For many years King also served as the first Director of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program at Queen’s University, and is a Professor Emeritus of that school.

Dr. King has been advisor and consultant to various governments, Aboriginal organizations, provincial departments of Education and heritage and universities. He has been a board member on several advisory boards, task forces and committees which have included serving as Chairperson of the Educational Symposium of the World Assembly of First Nations Conference held in Regina, the Indian and Metis Curriculum Advisory Committee, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People’s Research Ethics Committee and Elders Research Team, and the Ontario Ministry of Education VIP Panel redesigning secondary education.

A lover of the Ojibwe language, King has taught Ojibwe at the University of Saskatchewan, Stanford University and the University of Alberta. He has also developed significant Ojibwe Language Programs for schools across Canada and the United States, and has created an Ojibwe dictionary. Cecil King has also been involved in the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, the Gabriel Dumont Institute, and many other centres of indigenous learning and study. Awards include Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal, and the 2009 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education.

Throughout his career, Dr. King worked with First Nations across Canada in developing programs and policies aimed at Indian Control of Indian Education. His areas of expertise are Aboriginal Education; Aboriginal History; Ojibwe Language; Aboriginal Teacher Methodology; Policy and Administration of Aboriginal programs; Research Techniques with Aboriginal Peoples; Aboriginal Language Methodology.