W. Richard West, Jr.

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W. Richard West, Jr. (b. San Bernardino, California, January 6, 1943) is the founding and current director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. He is also a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne. West has devoted his professional life and much of his personal life to working with American Indians on cultural, educational, legal and governmental issues.

Before becoming director of the National Museum of the American Indian, West was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, and, subsequently, in the Indian-owned Albuquerque law firm of Gover, Stetson, Williams & West, P.C. He served as general counsel and special counsel to numerous tribes and organizations. In that capacity, he represented clients before federal, state and tribal courts, various executive departments of the U.S. Federal Government and the Congress.

West was born in San Bernardino, California, and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He is the son of American Indian master artist, the late Walter Richard West Sr., and Maribelle McCrea West. He earned a B.A. in American history graduating magna cum laude in 1965 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Redlands in California. He also received a master's degree in American history from Harvard University in 1968. West graduated from the Stanford University School of Law with a doctor of jurisprudence degree in 1971, where he also was the recipient of the Hilmer Oehlmann Jr. Prize for excellence in legal writing and served as an editor and note editor of the Stanford Law Review. West is married to the former Mary Beth Braden, who is a professor of political science at the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces. They have two adult children, Amy and Ben.

West has recently been the subject of controversy after the Washington Post exposed lavish travel expenses and a gala farewell celebration during his tenure in the Smithsonian. This is part of a general crackdown on Smithsonian expenses by the General Accounting Office. West has stated that the travel was for museum business and approved by supervisors.