Bob Anderson is a Professor and Director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington School of Law, and is the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School where he teaches annually. He teaches primarily in the areas of American Indian law, water law, natural resources law, and property law. He is a co-author and member of the Board of Editors of COHEN’S HANDBOOK OF FEDERAL INDIAN LAW (2005) and (2012). He is a co-author of Anderson, Berger, Frickey and Krakoff, AMERICAN INDIAN LAW: CASES AND COMMENTARY (3RD ED. 2015). Bob Anderson is of counsel with Kanji & Katzen PLLC. He spent twelve years as a Staff Attorney for the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund where he litigated major cases involving Native American sovereignty and natural resources. He was one of the two attorneys who opened 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.

On September 17th at our annual Celebrate Water event, CELP will present Bob Anderson with the Ralph W. Johnson Water Hero Award to honor his career as Director of the Native American Law Center, his work with Tribes throughout Washington and the United States consulting on water and natural resource issues, his dedication as an educator, and his advocacy for Native American law students.  Bob Anderson’s work embodies the connection between water and Indian Law and the vision of our founder Ralph W. Johnson.