Dwight A. Gourneau, a retired computer engineer and former board chair of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), passed away on January 4, 2022, at the age of 78.
A citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Gourneau dedicated his entire adult life to the promotion of science and technology education for Indigenous people. AISES acknowledged this dedication with its highest honor, bestowing the Ely S. Parker Award to Gourneau in 1994, the same year he retired after nearly 30 years of service at IBM Corporation.
“If there was an AISES leadership hall of fame,” said Nobert Hill, Jr., “he’d be at the top.“ Gourneau served as AISES board chair when Hill was executive director. Additionally, Gourneau served as an executive on loan with AISES, assisting with programming in STEM education and support, proposal development and fundraising.
At IBM, Gourneau was part of management and technical teams. He obtained two patents and received multiple distinctions for innovation. After graduating high school on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, Gourneau earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and physics. He later earned a master’s degree in systems engineering and also was awarded an honorary juris doctorate.
"Indian Country lost a great leader,” said Dr. Carol Davis, a former vice president at Turtle Mountain Community College who was a lifelong friend. “Dwight dedicated his life to creating a pathway in the sciences for Native students who desire to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. His legacy will live on."
Hill said that Gourneau had so many talents that he recommended him for the board of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC.
“I told (NMAI director) Rick West,’” Hill recalled, “‘If you want to have this museum built, then you want Gourneau as your chairman.’”
Gourneau served as board chair of NMAI, as well board director of the Bush Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota, which has a grantmaking focus in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and the 23 Native nations within that region. One of those nations is the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, with reservation boundaries that border Canada.
Undoubtedly, Gourneau was inspired by the examples of his parents. His father, Patrick Gourneau, served as tribal chairman in the 1950s, during the era when the Turtle Mountain Band and other tribal governments across the U.S. faced the threat of termination. Advocating and testifying in Washington, DC, Patrick Gourneau helped Turtle Mountain avoid the fate that impacted dozens of other tribes. His efforts served as the inspiration for the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich. Erdrich is Dwight Gourneau’s niece.
His friends speak to Dwight Gourneau’s own servant leadership and humility.
“He never sought any reward or recognition for his work,” said Hill. “He was a selfless leader and gracious in (every)…situation.”
There is a memorial service planned on January 10, 2022, in Rochester, Minnesota, where Gourneau and his late wife, Darlene, lived for the past 55 years.
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