Life Membership
Australian Archaeological Association Awards
Life Membership for Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Archaeological Association
| Year | Awardee |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Colin Pardoe |
| 2006 | Ian Johnson |
| 2005 | Isabel McBryde |
| 2004 | Luke Kirkwood |
| 2003 | J. Peter White |
| 2002 | Val Attenbrow |
| 2002 | Betty Meehan |
| . | Jack Golson |
| . | John Mulvaney |
Call for Nominations
Nominations are called for the Life Membership for Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. This award was established to recognise significant and sustained contribution to the objects and purposes of the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. previous winners include John Mulvaney, Jack Golson, Betty Meehan (2002), J. Peter White (2003), Luke Kirkwood (2004), Isabel McBryde (2005), Ian Johnson (2006) and Colin Pardoe (2007).
Nominations should consist of a one page statement outlining the nominee’s contributions to the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. Note that nominees must be members of the Association. All nominations will be considered by the Executive of the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. with advice as appropriate from senior members of the discipline. The decision of the Executive is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Nominations should be received no later than 31 August addressed to the President:
President
Australian Archaeological Association Inc.
School of Geography & Environmental Science
Building 11
Monash University
Clayton VIC 3800
The recipient will be announced at the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. Annual Conference.
Colin Pardoe has been awarded Life Membership of the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. in recognition of his long-standing support and contributions to the success of the Association, including as President, organising conferences, presenting papers at numerous conferences, and convening the legendary annual ‘Big Man and Small Boy Awards’.
During his time as President in 2000–2001, along with Louis Warren and Richard Fullagar, he contributed greatly to raising the level of professionalism and the profile of the Association. This was a critical time for the Association, and for Australian heritage and archaeology more broadly, and Colin’s leadership played an important role in negotiating valuable outcomes for the Association and the discipline.
The ‘Creation’ conference he co-convened with the South Australian Museum, Flinders University and University of South Australia in 1996 on the Fleureiu Peninsula, South Australia, was memorable not only for the unexpectedly cold weather but also because of the large attendance and great atmosphere.
The papers Colin has presented at numerous conferences are always stimulating and always presented in a manner that makes human biology understandable and of relevance to an audience of archaeologists whose aim is to find out how people lived and behaved in the distant and recent past.
He has also made a great contribution to Australian archaeology outside the Association. His numerous publications on the human biology of Indigenous Australians place ancestral human remains in a broader Australian and world context that informs on the life of past populations and complements the fieldwork and writing of mainstream archaeologists. His writings have not only been directed to enlightening biological anthropologists and archaeologists, but importantly to the Aboriginal communities whose ancestors he studies. His plain English reports written for Aboriginal communities not only provide insightful details about the lives of the people whose remains he has studied, but are also of a high standard and model for others to follow.
Colin’s many and diverse contributions to the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. and the broader discipline of Australian archaeology make him a worthy recipient of Life Membership.
Dr Ian Johnson has been awarded Life Membership to the association in recognition of his long standing support. This award was established to recognise significant and sustained contribution to the objects and purposes of the Australian Archaeological Association Inc.
With a Cambridge BA and a Bordeaux DES, Ian Johnson started his PhD research at the ANU in 1976 with excavations at Abercrombie Arch Shelter near Bathurst, NSW. He has been a member of AAA ever since, and served on the Executive in 1984 and 1985. He organised the first Association Conference at Kioloa in 1978 and edited the resulting publication – ‘Holier Than Thou’, titled with a famous Rhys Jones quote. He organised later conferences including the Sixth Australian Archaeological Association Conference in 1984 at Tallebudgera, Queensland, and has helped many archaeologists with computing problems of all kinds.
Ian started development on broad archaeological applications of his Minark database system straight after his PhD was completed in 1980, and introduced many Australian archaeologists to the huge potential of computerised databases. As an archaeological consultant, Ian has advised many government and heritage organisations and set up database applications in Europe, USA, UK and, of course, in many Australian State and Commonwealth organisations. Ian set up the first website and computerised databases for the Australian Archaeological Association and the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists.
He has managed to mix archaeological field work in several parts of the world with teaching, research and ongoing software development in the Archaeological Computing Laboratory, which he first set up at the University of Sydney in 1992. Ian Johnson has generously contributed to the growth of Australian archaeology and is thoroughly deserving of AAA Honorary Life Membership.
Isabel McBryde completed degrees in Latin and History at Melbourne University before departing for Cambridge in 1958. In 1960 her distinguished career as an archaeologist began in Australia’s fi rst titled position in Prehistory and Ancient History at the University of New England. During this time she completed her PhD as part of pioneering regional studies in the New England area. In 1974 she was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Prehistory and Anthropology at the Australian National University, culminating in her appointment to the Chair of Prehistory in 1986. Retired in 1994, Isabel holds Honorary Visiting Fellowships at the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. In addition to her academic contributions, Isabel has been active in a wide range of arenas relating to archaeology and cultural heritage over the last four decades. Significantly, she was a founding member of the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. and served as its first Secretary in 1974–1975. Few people have created such an enduring legacy for Australian archaeology. She has touched the minds, hearts and actions of virtually the entire Australian archaeological community. She is celebrated by students, Indigenous communities, colleagues and friends.
Luke Kirkwood's journey in archaeology began with winning a high school Earthwatch competition to excavate with Bruno David in Cape York Peninsula followed by an honours degree at the University of Queensland. Luke's major contribution to the Association has been to commit months of voluntary time as AAA Webmaster to build two complete versions of the website over the last 5 years (and all this while completing a PhD!). Luke's work has made the website the major public face of the Association (with over 50,000 visits per month and growing) and provides services to members and access to a wide range of resources for the broader archaeological and non-archaeological community. These resources are not readily available elsewhere and are vital to the Association's core mission to promote the advancement of Australian archaeology. Luke's other contributions to the Association include: coordinating IT for the 2001 Hervey Bay conference; co-editing the 2001 conference proceedings (published as Tempus 7); building a new user-friendly AAA membership database; assisting with digitising AA1974-2003 and production of the DVD; creating the National Archaeology Week website, including working on the popular Meet the Archaeologist page; publishing research in AA; and active participation at AAA annual conferences. Luke's work has almost single-handedly brought the Association into the 21st century and the website stands as a substantial and enduring contribution.
Peter began his undergraduate days in Melbourne, where he pursued historical interests before spending two years in Cambridge in the early 1960s. He returned to Australia in 1964 to undertake research in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and became the first Australian to receive a doctorate in archaeology at the Australian National University. This led to a spell of employment at the Australian Museum, Sydney, and then a year at the University of California at Berkeley as a Harkness Fellow. In 1971 he took up a lectureship at the University of Sydney, which became his base for the next 32 years. Peter subsequently held visiting positions at several other universities, including the University of Papua New Guinea, a further stint at Berkeley, and the Australian National University. In December 2003, J. Peter White retired from teaching at the University of Sydney. During this period his name has become virtually synonymous with the study of our region's prehistory. Throughout his career Peter has been, first and foremost, an Australian practising a brand of Archaeology that rejects Euro-centric views of human history. This position came to the fore in his chapter in Sunda and Sahul (1977) and in the classic book A Prehistory of Australia, New Guinea and Sahul (1982) which he wrote with James O'Connell. One of Peter's noteworthy contributions to the profession has been his unwavering support for the Australian Archaeological Association, for which he has helped to organise three national conferences (including the infamous one at Valla Beach in 1980!).
Val graduated with an Honours degree from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Sydney in 1976. Val worked as a consultant archaeologist and in the Cultural Heritage Division of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service before completing her PhD at the University of Sydney. Since 1989 she has worked in the Anthropology Division of the Australian Museum. Val joined AAA as an undergraduate student in either 1975 or 1976. She was co-editor of Australian Archaeology with Betty Meehan for volumes 30-35 (1989-1992). She was also AA Short Reports Editor for volumes 42-49 (1996-1999). She has attended 19 of the 25 conferences that have been held since the Kioloa 1978 conference, presenting eight papers and two posters, and chairing one session. She has also assisted in judging papers and posters on three or four occasions and attended the AGMs held at each of these conferences.
Betty read Anthropology at the University of Sydney in 1962, the year Richard Wright began the teaching of prehistory in Australia. In August 1963 she attended what she believes was the first conference on Australian archaeology, at University of Sydney. The following people (at least) were there: Rhys Jones, Jim Allen, Jack Golson, Ron Lampert, Isabel McBryde, John Mulvaney. Betty was part of the committee which ran the 1983 AAA conference in Canberra, and with Rhys Jones edited the publication of the conference proceedings as Archaeology with Ethnography: An Australian Perspective (1988). She was President of AAA in 1984. She became Editor of AA in 1987 with Ron Lampert and Jenny Hope; in 1988 with Ron Lampert; in 1989-1992 with Val Attenbrow; and in 1992-94 with Sue Feary. During her time with AA, with help of other editors and Ann Andrews, Betty changed its size and colour and much of the internal formatting (most of which survives today). She also arranged for the first and only colour illustration to appear in AA's pages (in an article by Stephanie Moser). Last but not least, she has always paid her annual subscription!