Jane E. Buikstra

Jane Ellen Buikstra, a bioarchaeologist and anthropologist, earned her B.A. in anthropology from DePauw University and her M.A. and Ph.D from the University of Chicago. She is a professor and director of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research within the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, president of the Center for American Archaeology and the first editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Palaeopathology.

Her research has reflected her interdisciplinary expertise, in fields as diverse as bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology and paleodemography, among others. She has published more than 100 works, including History of Research in Skeletal Biology and Ethnogenesis and Ethnicity in the Andes. Her field experiences have taken her from Spain to Argentina, and the Canadian Arctic to Turkey.

Recently, Buikstra has been studying the evolution of tuberculosis using recovered ancient DNA from the pathogen. A diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, she has taught at institutions such as University of Chicago, University of New Mexico, and Northwestern University. She was recently honored with the Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and has been a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1985.

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