Robert Spencer Corruccini (born May 21, 1949) is an American
anthropologist,
distinguished professor
Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs.
In the United States
Often specific to one institution, titles such ...
,
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
Research Fellow, Human Biology Council Fellow (now the
Human Biology Association), and the 1994 Outstanding Scholar at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. As a
medical
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
and dental anthropologist, Corruccini is most noted for his work on the theory of
malocclusion
In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-19 ...
[R.S. Corruccini. 1984. An Epidemiologic Transition in Dental Occlusion in World Populations. ''American Journal of Orthodontics'' 86 (5): 419-426.] and his extensive work in a slave cemetery at Newton Plantation in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
.
[J.S. Handler and R.S. Corruccini. 1986]
Weaning among West Indian Slaves: Historical and Bioanthropological Evidence from Barbados.
''William and Mary Quarterly'' 43: 111-17.
[R.S. Corruccini and J.S. Handler. 1980]
Temporomandibular Joint Size Decrease in American Blacks: Evidence from Barbados.
''Journal of Dental Research'' 59:1528.
Academic life
Corruccini earned his
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
and
Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
at the
University of Colorado, Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...
in 1971, and his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
and
Paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in 1975.
He was named an
Aleš Hrdlička
Alois Ferdinand Hrdlička, after 1918 changed to Aleš Hrdlička (; March 30,[HRDLICKA, ALES ...](_blank)
Scholar in 1975-1976 by the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, later becoming a communications coordinator for the
Universities Space Research Association
The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) was incorporated on March 12, 1969, in Washington, D.C. as a private, nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Institutional membership in the asso ...
in
Boulder, Colorado.
In 1977, Corruccini returned to his
alma mater, teaching
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
at the
University of Colorado, Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...
.
In 1978, he joined the
Anthropology Department at
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale as a
tenure-track
Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...
assistant professor
Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada.
Overview
This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree
A docto ...
, later earning a full professorship in 1986.
It was at this university where Corruccini met, and later married,
archaeologist Carol A. Morrow. Morrow is now professor of anthropology at
Southeast Missouri State University.
Human dentition
As a dental anthropologist, Corruccini is most noted for his work on
malocclusion
In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-19 ...
, though his research is not limited to any particular aspect of human or non-human
primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...
dentition or
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
.
[R.S. Corruccini, I. Shimada, K. Shinoda. 2002]
Dental and mtDNA Relatedness Among Thousand-Year-Old Remains from Huaca Loro, Peru.
''Dental Anthropology Journal'' 16 (1):9-14. Much of his early fieldwork in dentition and many of his 250-plus publications
focused on
twins
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
,
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
,
Australian Aborigines
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isla ...
, and on the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, with this research being funded by the
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation was established by Harry Guggenheim to support research on violence, aggression, and dominance.
The foundation writes: "He was convinced that solid, thoughtful, scholarly and scientific research, experimentati ...
, the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, and the
Leakey Foundation.
However, Corruccini's research into
malocclusion
In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-19 ...
led him to conduct broad and comprehensive studies among a diverse number of subjects, including an isolate population of European-Americans in rural
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, the
Pima Tribe, natives of
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
,
hominoids
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...
, and modern
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
.
Theory of malocclusion
Corruccini's long term research into the origins of
malocclusion
In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-19 ...
led him to the conclusion that not all cases could be solely attributed to genetic factors. In 1982, Corruccini and Beecher published the results of a study on
squirrel monkeys
Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus ''Saimiri''. ''Saimiri'' is the only genus in the subfamily Saimirinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím'' ...
that revealed that diet may play a significant role in
occlusal health. Corruccini later asserted that the consumption of a
western diet
The Western pattern diet is a modern dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of pre-packaged foods, refined grains, red meat, processed meat, high-sugar drinks, candy and sweets, fried foods, conventionally-raised anim ...
, or "Industrial Diet" may be one of the factors responsible for the swelling epidemic of
malocclusions
In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-1930) ...
now appearing in modern human populations in western countries.
Subsequent studies conducted by other scientists confirm the rise of malocclusions in modern humans.
In his review of
Noel T. Boaz
Noel Thomas Boaz (born 8 February 1952) is an American biological anthropologist, author, educator, physician, and founder of the Virginia Museum of Natural History. In addition he is founder of the Integrative Centers for Science and Medicine a ...
's, ''Evolving Health: The Origins of Illness and How the Modern World is Making Us Sick'', Corruccini states,
Research at Newton plantation
Not long after Corruccini's arrival in Carbondale, he commenced a collaborative research study with
Jerome Handler focusing on slave populations who were buried in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
circa 1660-1820,
a collaboration that would span over a decade and result in numerous publications. Handler joined the faculty at
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1962, first as an instructor, and later as a
tenured professor after he earned his PhD in anthropology from
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, ...
in 1965.
Corruccini and Handler's first publication together on the Newton sugar plantation was based on a study of the slaves' dentition.
This and subsequent research was funded by associations such as the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
, the
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren (5 June 1881 – 24 November 1961) was a Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s.
Early life
He was born on 5 June 1881 in Uddevalla, a town on the west coast of Sweden. H ...
,
Southern Illinois University Office of Development and Research,
and the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
.
References
Select publications
Books
* R.S. Corruccini. ''Primate Behavior and Sociobiology: Selected Papers from the VIII International Congress of Primatology'', (co-edited with A.B. Chiarelli), Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 1981.
* R.S. Corruccini. ''Primate Evolutionary Biology: Selected Papers from the VIII International Congress of Primatology'', (co-edited with A.B. Chiarelli), Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 1981.
* R.S. Corruccini. ''Advanced Views on Primate Biology: Proceedings of the Main Session, VIII International Congress of Primatology, Florence, July 7–11, 1980'', (co-edited by A.B. Chiarelli), Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 1982.
* R.S. Corruccini. ''New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry'', (co-edited with R.L. Ciochon), New York: Plenum Press, 1983,
* R.S. Corruccini. ''HALLA: Demographic Consequences of the Partition of the Punjab, 1947'' (Corruccini and S.S. Kaul), Lanham: University Press of America, 1990,
* R.S. Corruccini. ''Integrative Paths to the Past: Paleoanthropological Advances in Honor of F. Clark Howell'', (co-edited with R.L. Ciochon), New York: Prentice-Hall, 1994,
* R.S. Corruccini. ''Multivariate Analysis in Bioanthropology'', (co-edited with G.N. van Vark and W. Schaafsma), Journal of Quantitative Anthropology, Volume 5 Number 3, July 1995, 83 pp.
* R.S. Corruccini. ''How Anthropology Informs the Orthodontic Diagnosis of Malocclusion’s Causes'', Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999,
* R.S. Corruccini. ''The Human Experience: A Recitation Manual for Anthropology'', (with A. Balkansky and M. Harrison), Dubuque: Kendall-Hunt, 2007,
Peer-reviewed articles
* R.S. Corruccini. 1972a. The Biological Relationships of Some Prehistoric and Historic Pueblo Populations. ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 37:373-388.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1972b. Allometry Correction in Taximetrics. ''Systematic Zoology'' 21:375-383.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1973. Size and Shape in Similarity oefficients Based on Metric Characters. ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 38:743-753.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1974a. An Examination of the Meaning of Cranial Discrete Traits for Human Skeletal Biological Studies. ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 40: 425-445.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1974b. The Relation Between Ponderal Index and Discrete Traits and Measurements of the Skull. ''Human Biology'' 46:219-231.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1974c. Calvarial Shape Relationships between Fossil Hominids. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'' 18:89-109.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1975a. Metrical Analysis of Fontechevade II. ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 42:95-97.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1975b. Multivariate Analysis of Gigantopithecus Mandibles. ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 42:167-170.
* R.S. Corruccini. 1975c. Multivariate Analysis in Biological Anthropology: Some Considerations. ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 4:1-19.
* H.M. McHenry, R.S. Corruccini. 1975d. Distal Humerus in Hominoid Evolution. ''Folia Primatologica'' 23:227-244.
* R.L. Ciochon, R.S. Corruccini. 1975e. Morphometric Analysis of Platyrrhine Femora with Taxonomic Implications and Notes on Two Fossil Forms. ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 4:193-217.
* H.M. McHenry, R.S. Corruccini. 1975f. Multivariate Analysis of Early Hominid Pelvic Bones. ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 43:263-270.
External links
Robert S. Corruccini Academic HomepageRobert S. Corruccini Curriculum Vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corrucini, Robert
Southern Illinois University faculty
Medical anthropologists
Physical anthropologists
Forensic anthropologists
American paleoanthropologists
1949 births
Living people
People from Takoma Park, Maryland
20th-century American anthropologists
21st-century American anthropologists