Dr. Red Horse is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and served as the director of the Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University from 1985 to 1987. He was also the director at the American Indian Studies Center at the University of California Los Angeles and council member at the National Indian Child Welfare Association. Dr. Red Horse is a professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth, College of Liberal Arts. Dr. Red Horse dedicated his career to American Indian studies and Tribal Child Welfare. During his tenure at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Red Horse was a co-principal investigator of the Indian Child Welfare Certificate Program and served as chair of the American Indian Studies program and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dr. Red Horse was also the principal investigator of the Upward Bound Vision Quest, and previously served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. In 2006 he was honored with a Distinguished Alumnus award from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, College of Education and Human Services.