In 1985 he founded and became the director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University Bloomington, alongside Douglas Parks, whom he worked collaboratively throughout majority of his career to preserve and translate various Indigenous languages, after having first met in 1980.
He initiated the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University Bloomington in 1985, assuming a leadership position, while working closely with Douglas Parks from their initial encounter in 1980 to safeguard and understand numerous Indigenous languages.