2003 Rhys Jones Medal Awarded to Isabel McBryde

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Australian archaeology's highest honour, the Rhys Jones Medal, has been awarded to Emerita Professor Isabel McBryde AO, a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

"The Rhys Jones Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Archaeology is the highest award offered by the Australian Archaeological Association," said outgoing Association President, Sean Ulm.

"Professor McBryde is only the second archaeologist to receive the award. She is an internationally renowned and universally respected archaeologist with a career spanning more than 40 years. Few people have created such an enduring legacy for Australian archaeology."

"In the international field, Professor McBryde is a leading Australian figure, widely known for her research on the archaeology of Aboriginal trade and exchange. Among international and national achievements, she was influential in establishing important changes to the operation of the World Heritage Convention and to the World Heritage List. These changes made possible the recognition of cultural landscapes, so making the lists more representative of the world''s cultural heritage."

The Head of the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at ANU, Professor Matthew Spriggs, said these changes had great significance for countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

"People are at the centre of the past for Professor McBryde. This led her to combine archaeology, ethnohistory and oral tradition in her research, seeking to understand people's lives in times past. She was a pioneer in the involvement of Aboriginal communities in archaeological work affecting them. Professor McBryde has taught three generations of archaeologists, shaped the direction of education in the discipline and championed the university education of Indigenous archaeologists."

"Professor McBryde has had a long association with the management of Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area (including Lake Mungo) and served on the Board of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. She was one of a group of academics from Australia ICOMOS whose 1998 submission to the World Heritage Committee stated that the proposed uranium mine at Jabiluka would potentially damage the World Heritage values of Kakadu National Park."

"In 1960, Professor McBryde was appointed to the first titled position in Prehistory and Ancient History at the University of New England. Her brief was to establish teaching in prehistory and regional research in the archaeology of the Aboriginal past. She obtained her PhD in 1967, pioneering studies of New England archaeology. In 1974 Professor McBryde moved to ANU, where she was appointed to the Chair of Prehistory in 1986. Among her many other appointments, she served as a Commissioner of the Australian Heritage Commission from 1982 to 1988."

"Professor McBryde received the Rhys Jones medal during the Australian Archaeological Association's 25th Annual Conference, hosted by the ANU Centre for Archaeological Research in Jindabyne at the weekend. The award was established in 2002 in honour of the late ANU Professor Rhys Jones, marking his enormous contribution to the development and promotion of archaeology in Australia.