Wolf Point’s Keiser Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

BOZEMAN – Doriane Keiser, a senior at Montana State University who plans to return to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation where she grew up to work for the betterment of individual and community mental health, has been awarded a 2026 Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford.

Keiser, an associate member of the Fort Peck tribes, is one of just 32 American scholars selected over the weekend for the prestigious scholarship. She is the 12th MSU student, and the first since 2017, to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, which is considered the oldest and one of the most prestigious international academic awards.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Doriane has been recognized for her hard work and achievements in this place where exceptional talent is nurtured and elevated by exceptional people in order to produce exceptional outcomes,” said Montana State University President Brock Tessman.

Keiser, a Presidential Scholar and member of the Honors College who is majoring in psychology and community health with minors in sociology and human development, came to MSU knowing she would one day go on to graduate school to become a clinical psychologist. She was motivated to work both with individuals and within institutions, such as schools and law enforcement agencies, to ensure that effective mental health interventions and referrals for people in crisis are available in the Fort Peck community – something she said was often lacking when she was growing up there. Her goal is personal: In 2020, Keiser lost her younger sister, who had long struggled with mental health issues, to suicide.

Through her MSU coursework, Keiser said, she came to realize that deficiencies in services for addiction, health care, nutrition and education begin at the policy level. That realization ultimately cemented her decision to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship.

When her mentor, Steven Davis, assistant dean of MSU’s Honors College and 2015 Rhodes finalist, encouraged her to consider applying, Keiser began investigating available programs at Oxford. She found exactly what she was looking for: a master’s degree program in evidence-based social intervention and another in comparative social policy.

“In the U.S., we really focus on our policies, but through this program I could look at policies that exist in other countries to open my mind to what is out there, what are the possibilities,” she said. “If they are succeeding, how could we tailor it to the U.S.? There’s so much knowledge out there.”

She was so excited by Oxford’s offerings, in fact, that Keiser told Davis she would apply there even if she didn’t win the scholarship. While Davis was on a flight to Bozeman on Sunday, somehow a single message from Keiser came through on his watch. It said simply, “I won.” Davis knew Keiser’s path to Oxford had just become easier.

“Doriane’s story – her vision, her mission, her North Star – her personal calling and professional vocation is so important for the future of our rural and tribal communities,” said Davis, who has worked with Keiser through Honor Bound, the Honors College support program for Indigenous students. “She embodies the best virtues we have to offer as Indigenous people and exemplifies the very best of what we have to offer at Montana State University.”

Nicholas Ross-Dick, assistant director of American Indian/Alaska Native Student Success, added that Keiser has always exhibited kindness, sympathy and strong moral character in her work as a peer tutor for Indigenous students.

“She has a heart for the whole community,” he said. “The thing I most admire about Doriane is she is super driven and ambitious, but she’s also humble and grounded.”

Tutoring is one of many ways Keiser connected with Indigenous communities and culture while at MSU. As president of the campus American Indian Science and Engineering Society chapter, she spearheaded an outreach project to Indigenous communities to teach engineering and programming skills to fifth- and sixth-graders while flying miniature drones. Keiser also bundled seeds bound for Indigenous communities with the Buffalo Nations Food System Initiative, a project of the Department of Native American Studies and the College of Education, Health and Human Development; traveled with the Honor Bound program to learn aquaponic farming techniques from Indigenous Hawaiians; worked with MSU’s McNair Scholars Program to explore the impact of cultural exchanges on Native American and Alaska Native students at MSU; and traveled to New Zealand as part of a Native American studies course to work with Māori communities.

Keiser served as a senator in student government representing the College of Letters and Science during her sophomore year, where she worked to expand funding for mental health programs and increase access to low-cost legal services on campus.

Her academic pursuits have been no less ambitious. While carrying heavy course loads, Keiser has participated in undergraduate research with three psychology professors and completed an MSU Extension internship. In 2024, she won a prestigious Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, which is awarded in recognition of exceptional leadership, community service and involvement in the fields of health care, environment or public policy surrounding American Indian and Alaska Native communities and issues.

“MSU has given me so many opportunities that I didn’t know were available in one place,” Keiser said. “I didn’t even know what it meant to participate in research before going to college, but I have been able to do that here.”

Because she wanted the opportunity to study abroad before graduating, Keiser decided to extend her undergraduate career by one year. She is studying this semester in Thailand – in fact, she flew 20 hours to Seattle last week for the final round of Rhodes interviews. She plans to graduate in May after completing her final semester in Bozeman.

Reached in Thailand on Monday after her 20-hour return flight, Keiser said the support she has received at MSU and throughout the Rhodes application process brought her to this moment.

“It helped me realize that no matter where you come from, you can do so much and you can grow,” she said.

Prior to Keiser, the most recent MSU student to win a Rhodes was Josh Carter of Watertown, S.D., in 2017. Previous Rhodes Scholarship winners from MSU include Joe Thiel from Idaho Falls, who won a Rhodes Scholarship in 2013; Katy Hansen of Bozeman who earned a Rhodes Scholarship in 2011; Brian Johnsrud, an English graduate from Big Sandy, who won the Rhodes in 2006; Chelsea Elander of Missoula, who won a Rhodes in 2000; and Jennifer DeVoe of Helena, a recipient in 1995. Maurice Burke, a former professor of mathematics at MSU, won in 1974. In all, MSU has produced 12 Rhodes Scholars since the scholarship’s founding.