Dawn Frank

Frank was born to Sylvia Tobacco and Darrell Two Crow. Her Lakota name, Ta Oyate Wiyankapi Win translates to Her People See Her.[1] Frank's maternal grandparents were Stephen “Psin” Tobacco and Caroline Catches Tobacco.[1] Her paternal grandparents were Justin “Judson” Two Crow and Anna “Annie” Chief Eagle-Two Crow.[1] She is a member of the Oglala Sioux and was raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.[1] Frank completed elementary and secondary education at Red Cloud Indian School, graduating in 1989.[2][1] While working and raising her kids, she graduated from Oglala Lakota College (OLC) with an associate's and bachelor's degree (2001) in human services.[2][1] At OLC, she began a master's degree in Lakota leadership before being accepted into a W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded "Prairie Ph.D." program at South Dakota State University (SDSU) where she earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences from South Dakota State University in 2010.[2] Her dissertation was titled, Integrating Lakota culture and biological science into a holistic research methodology (Lakol wico un na wico han wopasi).[2] She later the OLC master's degree in Lakota leadership.[2][1]

From 2005 to 2013, Frank was head of the OLC graduate studies department.[1] She served as the OLC vice president of instruction from 2013 to 2022. She became the OLC president on July 18, 2022, succeeding Thomas Short Bull.[1]

Frank is married to Albert Frank and has five children.[1][2] She lives on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.[1]