Guest Speakers

Thomas A. Crist, Ph.D. is the Harold T. Clark, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Anatomy at Utica University in New York. Dr. Crist earned his doctorate in Biological Anthropology from Temple University and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.  He has been a forensic anthropologist with the United States Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team for more than 25 years and conducted numerous bioarchaeological projects throughout the United States.  Previously director of Archeological Services at Kise Straw & Kolodner, Inc. in Philadelphia and now a consultant to numerous cultural resources management firms, Crist was appointed in 1990 as the Foresnic Anthropologist for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office. At Utica he teaches the graduate seminars in forensic anthropology and historical archeology, and the popular short course, “Graveyard Archeology.” As a historical bioarcheologist, Crist has excavated and analyzed over 1,800 skeletons from numerous archeological sites and crime scenes. He directs an annual forensic anthropology/bioarchaeology field school in Albania and Romania and is the author of more than 100 professional publications and cultural resources reports.

Dave G. Orr, Ph.D., is one of the Northeast’s leading historical archaeologists, who has made international contributions to the interdisciplinary study of material culture. Dave’s interests are global and catholic, and he is a bibliophile with a prodigious memory and a synthetic mind. His scholarly contributions to material culture incorporate perspectives from anthropology, history, philosophy, classical studies, literature, folklore and folklife. His expertise ranges from classical Italy to American popular culture, along the way advancing scholarship in conflict archaeology, African Diaspora archaeology, industrial archaeology, and the archaeology of the 20th-century. He is a pioneer in the field of conflict archaeology, promoting the importance of taking an anthropological perspective in studying war and its effects. He is a tireless advocate of public engagement and involvement in archaeology.

Dave worked with the archaeology team at Red Bank in 2015 and in 2022. Now retired, Dave career has been diverse and varied. Trained as a classicist and a historian he studied at Ohio University (BA with Honors 1960) and the University of Maryland (MA 1969, Ph.D. 1972), as well as the American Academy in Rome (1971-1973). Dave had a distinguished thirty-year career with the National Park Service (1977-2006), serving as Senior Regional Archaeologist for the Northeast and East Coast NAGPRA Coordinator. In addition to his career with the National Park Service, Dave taught at the University of Maryland (1964-1971), School of Classical Studies, Rome Italy (1972-1973), University of Pennsylvania (1973-1978) University of Delaware (1976-1977, 1983-2008), Thomas Jefferson University (1984), and Temple University (2002-2014). He has been the recipient of numerous awards recognizing his work, including the lifetime Achievement Award of the Mid-Atlantic Archaeological Conference and the Crystal Owl Award of the National Park Service for Excellence in Interpretation. Dave was also the recipient of the highly-competitive Rome Prize (Prix-de-Rome) by the American Academy in Rome to support innovative and cross-disciplinary work in the arts and humanities.