Glenn L. Emmons

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Glenn Leonidas Emmons (August 15, 1895 – March 14, 1980) was an American banker and Republican politician who led the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

He was born in Atmore, Alabama, and moved with his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1905. He attended public schools and the University of New Mexico before leaving in 1917 to serve in World War I as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war, he settled in Gallup, New Mexico, where he built a banking career and chaired the First State Bank of Gallup from 1935 to 1964, while taking on leadership roles in the American Bankers Association.

In 1944 Emmons ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Mexico. In 1953 President Eisenhower nominated him to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs, with broad support from the Navajo Tribal Council. As commissioner, he aimed to reduce federal dependence by expanding programs in health, education, and economic development for Indian communities. He moved health services to the Public Health Service, increased funding for Navajo education, created adult English classes, and started job-training programs. He promoted reclamation of Indian lands and encouraged development of energy and minerals, including oil, uranium, and coal leasing. He drafted Tribal Termination plans (though he did not support forced relocation). Under his leadership, more roads and bridges were built on Indian lands than under all previous commissioners combined.

In 1957 he received the Department of the Interior’s Distinguished Service Award for improving health, education, and economic prospects for Indian people. Emmons retired as commissioner in September 1961 and was succeeded by Philleo Nash. He later received the Zimmerman Award and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of New Mexico in 1977. He died in Albuquerque in 1980 at the age of 84.