Ted Hibbeler is a member of the Iron Shell family (Maza Pon Kesh Ka Tiospaye) from the Rosebud Sioux Nation (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) in South Dakota. He was raised in Hastings, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. He spent the next ten years teaching and coaching high school students at St. Francis Indian School in South Dakota. Ted then earned a Master of Arts in Teaching Degree in English from Hastings College, and he and his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he worked as the Director of the Native American Education Program for the Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) for twenty years. During his tenure at this position, he earned a Master of Education in Educational Administration and Supervision Degree from Arizona State University, and the PUHSD Native American Education Program became a best practices program for the Arizona Department of Education in the areas of student retention, academic excellence and graduation. Their college-bridge program, The Hoop of Learning Program, received the Phoenix Mayor’s Partnership Award for several years, and it is still active in many of the school districts in Phoenix and the Maricopa Community College District.

Ted and his family moved back to Nebraska to be closer to home, and he is currently the Tribal Extension Educator for the Extension Division at UNL. He is working with the Nebraska Tribal communities and their Tribal colleges and K-12 schools in the areas of food sustainability, economic development, career development, conservation and leadership. He believes developing a reciprocal relationship between the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska Tribal communities is a key component to his new position. Ted also serves on the Board of the Nebraska Indian Education Association (NeIEA) and the Jobs for America’s Graduates Nebraska (JAG).