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Anthropology

2013-2014 Faculty Achievements and Honors

2013-2014 Accomplishments of UF Anthropology Faculty and Research Associates

  • Dr. Maxine Margolis, Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Florida was awarded the Lifetime Contribution Award by the Brazilian Studies Association, at a ceremony that took place at BRASA XII in London in August 2014, for her pioneering efforts in the field of Brazilian studies.
  • Dr. Peter Schmidt was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, by the PGIAR Board of Managers at their 243rd meeting. This is a lifetime appointment. Congratulations to Dr. Schmidt!

  • Dr. Peter Schmidt recognized by Award of Extraordinary Professor at University of Pretoria, South Africa.

  • Dr. Sharon Abramowitz’s article on the Ebola epidemic has received a great deal attention in the media and elsewhere: 10 Things that Anthropologists Can Do to Fight the West African Ebola Epidemic.

  • Dr. Faye Harrison (now at University of Illinois) honored with the 2013 McKnight Outstanding Mentor Award from the Florida Education Fund at its annual McKnight Doctoral Fellows Conference. In the letter that FEF President Lawrence Morehouse sent, he wrote that “the William R. Jones Awards Committee has unanimously awarded Dr. Harrison the 2013 Outstanding Mentor Award” based on nominations from UF anthropology students. She is the President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences.
  • Dr. Michael Edward Moseley was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  • Dr. George Abungu (the Eddy Visiting Scholar for the Spring 2013 semester) is an archaeologist and former Director General of National Museums of Kenya, was awarded the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in November.
  • Dr. Russell Bernard, Professor Emeritus, continues to develop online research methods courses that will lead to a certificate in Research Methods. Bernard also continues to run an NSF-funded Research Methods camp.
  • Dr. Allan Burns, Professor Emeritus, was awarded the 2013 Sol Tax Distinguished Service Award by the Society for Applied Anthropology.
  • Dr. David Daegling continues his NSF-sponsored research on the biomechanics and adaptation of jaws among humans, protohumans, and primates using modern primates from the Tai Forest, Ivory Coast.
  • Dr. Susan deFrance is using NSF support to examine ancient Andean political economy through the zooarchaeological analysis of animal remains from Tiwanaku and Wari state societies in southern Peru.
  • Dr. Susan Gillespie presented the Patty Jo Watson Distinguished Lecture, “The Entanglement of Jade and the Rise of Mesoamerica,” at the American Anthropological Association meeting in San Francisco, November, 2012. Gillespie was also named an Elizabeth Dunlevie Term Professor by the Honors Program.
  • Dr. Lance Gravlee was awarded a 2012 Outstanding Mentor Award by the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program. Gravlee also received a William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award. Gravlee continues with the editorship of Medical Anthropology Quarterly, the medical anthropology journal of the American Anthropological Association.
  • Drs. Lance Gravlee and Connie Mulligan continue NSF-funded work on health disparities and epigenetics based on racism and other stress factors in the African-American Community in Tallahassee.
  • Dr. Maxine Margolis retired from the department in 2007 and continues to win honors. She is the 5th recipient of the Lifetime Contribution Award from the Brazilian Studies Association, to be awarded at Kings College in London in August 2014.
  • Dr. Michael Moseley, National Academy of Sciences Member, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  • Dr. Connie Mulligan was awarded a UFRF Professorship for her contribution to research. Mulligan was also awarded UF’s Honor Professor of the year for 2012-2013. Mulligan, Associate Director of the UF Genetics Institute, continues to garner funding through NSF, UF’s CTSI, and other agencies. Mulligan is working on the analysis of data from war-torn areas of Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo, to determine the epigenetic effects of rape and violence against women over long periods of time.
  • Dr. Augusto Oyuela-Caycedo’s research on the work of Reichel-Dolmatoff and his Nazi past was featured in the popular media and on the AAA anthropology news bulletin.
  • Dr. Ken Sassaman, Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor, continues archaeological fieldwork in Florida along the St. John’s River and the Gulf Coast region near the Suwannee River drainage. Sassaman also continues with the editorship of American Antiquity, the flagship journal of the archaeology subfield.
  • Dr. Peter Schmidt was elected as Fellow to the World Academy of Art & Science.
  • Dr. John Rick Stepp was elected President of the Society for Economic Botany. Stepp is also PI for a UF subcontract on the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research program. Stepp continues to work on tea in China.
  • Dr. Marilyn Thomas-Houston celebrated Black History Month at the White House with President Barack Obama. She was invited to the celebration in her capacity as editor of Fire!!!: The Multimedia Journal of Black Studies.
  • Dr. Michael Warren, Director of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Lab, was appointed to the Forensic Advisory Board for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Switzerland. Warren was also named the William Garmany Term Professor in Human Rights. Dr. Warren has completed a seven-year term as a member of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.