Gail Guthrie Valaskakis

Gail Guthrie Valaskakis (1939-2007) was a media studies scholar who taught in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University, where she also served as Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (1992-1997). After leaving Concordia, Valaskakis served as director of research at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in Ottawa.

Personal life Valaskakis was born on May 9, 1939, to Miriam Van Buskirk and Benedict Guthrie in Ashland, Wisconsin. She was raised on the Lac du Flambeau First Nation, Wisconsin to Chippewa and Dutch-American parents. As a child, Valaskakis attended a United States Indian school. She identified as an indigenous person throughout her life. She had two children, her sons Paris and Ion.

In 1961, Valaskakis graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in Education, majoring in Speech and Drama with a minor in English. In 1961 she entered Cornell University under the Kappa Kappa Gamma Graduate Counselor Scholarship.

Valaskakis worked at Concordia University from 1968 to 1998, primarily in the Department of Communication Studies. While at Concordia, Valaskakis was also responsible for the establishment of the Native Education Centre on campus and was involved in the establishment of the Inter-University Joint Doctoral Programme in Communications with the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Université de Montréal. She retired from Concordia in 1998.