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From the President: Annual Kudos
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Volume 55 Number 2, March/April 2002
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by Nancy C. Wilkie
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AIA Awards for Outstanding Service
Each year at its Annual Meeting, the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) presents awards to those who have made significant contributions to the practice of archaeology, the preservation of the world's cultural heritage, and public outreach.
This year's recipient of the Gold Medal for Outstanding Archaeological Achievement is Robert McC. Adams, whose pioneering field research in Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia has focused on long-term changes in settlement and land-use patterns. It is with great pleasure that the AIA adds its name to the list of organizations--including the Society for American Archaeology, Sigma Xi, and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, to name but a few--that have honored Adams for his outstanding contributions to the field of archaeology.
The Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology was presented to Garman Harbottle of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. In applying his expertise in the fields of chemistry and statistics to archaeological problems, Harbottle has been at the forefront of research in radiocarbon dating, archaeometallurgy, and raw material sourcing.
Lynn E. Roller received the Wiseman Book Award for In Search of God the Mother: the Cult of Anatolian Cybele (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), which exposes the assumptions and misconceptions behind the image of the mother-goddess.
Nancy Bookidis and Charles K. Williams, II, were the recipients of the Award for Outstanding Public Service. They were recognized for their role in the successful recovery and repatriation of nearly 300 objects stolen from the archaeological museum of ancient Corinth. The Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award was presented to Frank Wezniak, who served the AIA for 15 years as treasurer and in countless other ways. We greatly appreciate his dedication and devotion to the AIA and its mission.
The Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching went to P. Nick Kardulias of the department of sociology and anthropology and the program in archaeology of the College of Wooster. The citation describes Kardulias as "a master of the leading question, forcing students to reach beyond simple recitations of facts to the implications of those data for understanding human history and behavior."
The Local Society Prize was awarded to the Cleveland Society, founded in 1895, which was cited for its public outreach. By videotaping its lectures and making them available to high-school and college teachers, the society has insured that the lectures have the widest possible distribution. The Conservation and Heritage Management Award was presented to the Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Working Group of the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation, cited for its contribution to the understanding and treatment of wet and waterlogged archaeological materials.
Congratulations to all of the recipients of this year's awards.
Nancy C. Wilkie is the president of the Archaeological Institute of America.
© 2002 by the Archaeological Institute of America
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