Jeremy "Jerry" Arac Sabloff (born 1944) is an American anthropologist and past president of the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...

. Sabloff is an expert on ancient

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, a ...

and pre-industrial urbanism. His academic interests have included settlement pattern studies, archaeological theory and method, the history of archaeology, the relevance of archaeology in the modern world, complexity theory, and trans-disciplinary science. Sabloff received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD in 1969 from Harvard, where his doctoral supervisor was archaeologist

Gordon Willey Gordon Randolph Willey (7 March 1913 – 28 April 2002) was an American archaeologist who was described by colleagues as the "dean" of New World archaeology.Sabloff 2004, p.406 Willey performed fieldwork at excavations in South America, Central A ...

. He was the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Williams Director of the

University of Pennsylvania Museum The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—commonly known as the Penn Museum—is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighb ...

(1994–2004) and interim director of the museum (2006–2007). He also has taught at Harvard University, the University of Utah, the University of New Mexico (where he was chair of the Department of Anthropology), and the University of Pittsburgh (where he was chair of the Department of Anthropology). He retired as Santa Fe Institute president on July 31, 2015. Sabloff is an outspoken proponent of science communication. In 2010 he delivered the distinguished lecture at the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting, encouraging anthropologists to make their work accessible to their relevant publics and cultivate a new generation of scientist-communicators. Sabloff is past president of the Society for American Archaeology, a past anthropology section chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and past editor of ''American Antiquity''. He has served as chair of the Smithsonian Science Commission (2001–2003) and currently chairs the visiting committee for the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Museum of Natural History, the Board of Trustees of the SRI Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, and is a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. He is a fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries, London, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the author of ''Excavations at Seibal: Ceramics'' (1975), ''The Cities of Ancient Mexico'' (1989,1997), ''The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya'' (1990), and ''Archaeology Matters'' (2008). He is co-author of ''A History of American Archaeology'' (1974, 1980, 1993), ''A Reconnaissance of Cancuen, Peten, Guatemala'' (1978), ''Ancient Civilizations: The Near East and Mesoamerica'' (1979, 1995), ''Cozumel: Late Maya Settlement Patterns'' (1984), and ''The Ancient Maya City of Sayil'' (1991). He has edited or co-edited 12 books, the most recent of which is (with anthropologist Joyce Marcus) ''The Ancient City'' (2008). Sabloff resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is married to anthropologist Paula Sabloff.

References

External links

National Academy of Science interview with Jeremy Sabloff

American Anthropological Association 2010 Distinguished Lecture

Archaeology Matters (2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabloff, Jerry American archaeologists American anthropologists 1944 births Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Harvard University alumni Santa Fe Institute people University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Pennsylvania alumni Harvard University faculty University of Utah faculty University of New Mexico faculty University of Pittsburgh faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science