It is with great sadness that we share that Dr. Myrton Running Wolf, Professor of Race and Media, passed away last week.
We express our sincere condolences to Dr. Running Wolf’s family as they grieve privately. We will share details for a memorial service when they become available.
Dr. Running Wolf joined our faculty in 2017, having earned an MFA in Film/TV production from USC, as well as an M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University and a Ph.D. from Stanford. His research focused on methodologies for increasing the inclusion of marginalized populations in mainstream media production.
Dr. Running Wolf’s work extended throughout our campus and into the community, as he served as an instructor for the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources’ American Indian/Alaska Native Lake Tahoe college prep camp, an instructor for the University’s Office of Indigenous Relations’ LEAD program, as well as numerous instructing roles for other area educational groups. For more than 20 years, Dr. Running Wolf was an award-winning independent media producer, director and writer.
In August 2018, the University was honored to have Dr. Running Wolf deliver the keynote address during our New Student Opening Ceremony at Lawlor Events Center. Dr. Running Wolf’s speech that day was equal parts filled with seriousness and levity, mixed with a larger message about the value of relationships in finding ultimate success:
“That’s how you do it, my friends, when the anxiety comes. You reach out to those people who are standing right next to you, going through what you’re going through, doing it with you. … Start forming support systems that will lift you up when you fall … you’ll know you’re there where one of them falls and you catch them, set them back on their feet, dust them off, and help them start again. Connect with human beings, real human beings.”