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Professor Emeritus Robert Anderson, Water Hero 2020

Professor Emeritus Robert Anderson served for decades as a law professor and Director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington. He is also an Oneida Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and visiting Professor of Law at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder. Bob’s work primarily exists at the intersection of water, natural resource, property, and American Indian law.

Bob’s impressive career began as a Staff Attorney for the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund (NARF) where he litigated major cases involving Native American sovereignty and natural resources. He was then one of the two attorneys who founded NARF’s Alaska office in 1984. From 1995-2001, he served as a political appointee in the Clinton Administration under Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, providing legal and policy advice on a wide variety of Indian law and natural resource issues. Bob was the co-chair of the Obama transition team for the Department of the Interior in 2008, and one of five members of the National Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform. He is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe.

In honor of his recent retirement from the UW Law School, we wanted to celebrate his impressive body of work dedicated to natural resource issues, mentorship as an educator, and advocacy for Native American law students.

Water Heroes
1. Rachel Paschal Osborn, Water Hero 2001
2. Benella Caminiti, Water Hero 2004
3. Nancy Rust, Water Hero 2006
4. Mickey Gendler, Water Hero 2008
5. Russ Busch, Water Hero 2010
6. Harriet Bullitt, Water Hero 2011
7. NW Indian Fisheries Commission, Water Hero 2012
8. Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Water Hero 2013
9. Ann Aagaard, Water Hero 2014
10. Upper Columbia United Tribes, Water Heroes 2015
11. Professor William H. Rodgers Jr., Water Hero 2016
12. Dr. John Osborn, Water Hero 2017
13. Water Heroes 2018
14. In Memory of Nancy Shuttleworth Rust: Former CELP Board President & Ralph W. Johnson Water Hero Awardee
15. Larry Wasserman, Water Hero 2019
16. Professor Emeritus Robert Anderson, Water Hero 2020
17. Sharon Haensly, Water Hero 2021
18. Kimberly Ordon aka KO, Water Hero 2021
19. Daryl Williams, Water Hero 2022
20. Carla Carlson Named 2023 Water Hero
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