Greg Sarris

Gregory Michael Sarris (born February 12, 1952) is the Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (since 1992) and the recent Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Until 2022, Sarris was the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Creative Writing and Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, where he taught classes in Native American Literature, American Literature, and Creative Writing. He is also President of the Graton Economic Development Authority. Sarris is currently the Distinguished Chair Emeritus at Sonoma State University. He was appointed as a UC Regent by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023.

A notable scholar and activist, Sarris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020. Sarris has authored six books, including Grand Avenue, a collection of autobiographical short stories about contemporary Native American life. Named after a real place in Santa Rosa's South Park district, Sarris was a co-executive producer, along with Robert Redford, of a two-part 1996 HBO miniseries adaptation, shot entirely on location. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Sundance Institute.