Lynne Goldstein, professor emerita of anthropology and founding director of the Campus Archaeology Program at Michigan State University, received the Society for American Archaeology Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award honors Goldstein’s contributions to the field in the areas of mortuary archaeology, Midwestern prehistory, historical archaeology, archaeological ethics and repatriation, public engagement, and professional and institutional leadership.
Goldstein earned her bachelor’s degree from Beloit College and her master’s and doctorate from Northwestern University. Her commitment to archaeology began in high school, during which she volunteered at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Over the course of her career, Goldstein taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Michigan State University, chairing departments at both institutions. She retired from MSU in August 2018 and now holds emerita status.
Goldstein’s first scholarly publication on Midwestern archaeology appeared in 1971. Throughout her near 50-year career, Goldstein authored more than 65 publications and 200 conference papers. While four decades has passed, Goldstein’s early work on Mississippian mortuary archaeology remains foundational and widely cited.
Throughout her career, Goldstein’s research focused on the Late Woodland and Mississippian periods of the Midwest, where she conducted fieldwork in Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin, particularly at the site of Aztalan and its surrounding region.
Goldstein served on the steering committee that established the Florida Public Archaeology Network and then served on their board of directors for 12 years. At MSU, she developed and led the Campus Archaeology Project, persuading university leaders and grounds people alike that documenting the campus’s history through archaeological investigation was a valuable and significant undertaking. Her work on campus has contributed significantly to the study of 19th and 20th century midwestern U.S. history and the growth and significance of U.S. land grant universities.
Goldstein’s classroom teaching has been acknowledged with multiple awards; she has chaired 18 dissertation committees and served on dozens more, and mentored graduate and undergraduate students in programs around the U.S., in the United Kingdom and beyond.
Goldstein has mentored hundreds of other young anthropologists through her “standing room only” annual workshop at the Society for American Archaeology meetings on academic careers, which she offered for 17 consecutive years. Her service to the Society for American Archaeology was recognized with five Presidential Recognition Awards, spanning from 1991 to 2017. Her service on its Task Force on Repatriation from 1990-2000 and as an advisor from 2000-2010 made important contributions to the form and implementation of NAGPRA legislation.
The Society for American Archaeology will honor Goldstein at the Annual Business Meeting and Awards Presentation from 5 to 6:30 p.m., on April 12, in the ACC Kiva Auditorium at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Albuquerque.