Sa'euteuga Le'au Scanlan (born 21 March 1937) is an educator in American Samoa. Beginning in 1979 she served for over a decade as president of

American Samoa Community College American Samoa Community College (ASCC) is a public land-grant community college in the village of Mapusaga, American Samoa. Only legal residents of American Samoa who have graduated from high school or obtained a General Equivalency Diploma ar ...

, the territory's only institution of higher education, becoming the first Samoan to achieve such a position in the region.

Early life and education

Sa'euteuga Le'au Scanlan, known as Sa'eu, was born in 1937 in the

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

n village of

Fagatogo Fagatogo () is the downtown area of Pago Pago (the territorial capital of American Samoa).Grabowski, John F. (1992). ''U.S. Territories and Possessions (State Report Series)''. Chelsea House Pub. Page 51. . Located in the low grounds at the foot o ...

. She was the fourth of twelve children born to her parents Saipele S. Le'au and Suluama Lea'ai. Scanlan traveled to the U.S. mainland to study at San Francisco State College (now

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

), where she graduated with a bachelor's degree. After teaching in American Samoa for several years, she left again to obtain a master's degree at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

. This was followed by a Ph.D. from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

in 1975.

Career

In 1970, Scanlan helped launch

, which remains the territory's only

tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution. After obtaining her doctorate, she returned to American Samoa and became a dean at the community college, then the school's vice president in 1978. The following year, she was promoted to president of American Samoa Community College, the third president in the school's history. Not only was she the first Samoan to serve as president of that college, but a 1987 profile also identified her as "the first Samoan to rise to that level in higher education in the Pacific territories." She remained as president throughout a formative period for the community college, until the mid-1990s. Scanlan also served for a period as president of the American Samoa National Women's Association after its founding in the 1980s.

Personal life

Sa'eu was married to the businessman High Chief Fanene Morris Scanlan, with whom she had two children, from 1961 until his death in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlan, Sa'eu 1937 births Living people American Samoan educators San Francisco State University alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Brigham Young University alumni