Heather Tanana is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and an Assistant Research Professor at the S.J. Quinney College of Law – University of Utah. She is also Associate Faculty with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health. Heather practiced law for several years with Richards Brandt Miller Nelson before completing a clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer and joining the world of academia. Her career has been driven by her personal commitment to serving her people.
She serves on the board of the Planet Women and volunteers her time on other work groups to promote diversity in the legal field, including the Rocky Mineral Law Foundation Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, Association of American Law Schools Section on Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples, and American Bar Association Native American Resources Committee. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in biology modified with psychology, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Utah and Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins.