2019 Donor Recognition

Through anthropology, we can shape a better world together—and our members are living proof

While membership dues, meeting registration fees, and publishing royalties have always supported AAA’s core activities, philanthropy enables us to go above and beyond, maximizing our impact in the field and anthropology’s impact in our world.

Transforming lives through Minority Dissertation Fellowships

Like many first-generation college students, Saira Mehmood had to learn the ropes of an unfamiliar system and manage a job to support herself while still finding the time for her scholarly work. Receiving a AAA Minority Dissertation Fellowship made it possible for Saira to focus on her dissertation and become the first in her family to earn a doctoral degree. Today, Dr. Mehmood is a visiting professor at Spelman College.

“What I want people to understand about supporting the Fellowship is that you’re not just donating money for one person to finish a degree—you’re giving them the tools to mentor others. Receiving this fellowship did more than allow me to graduate—it gave me the chance to pass it forward.”

—Saira Mehmood, visiting professor, Spelman College

Engaging the public with Race: Are We So Different?

The first traveling national exhibition to address race from biological, cultural, and historical points of view, the RACE: Are We So Different?^® exhibit immerses visitors in the everyday experience of living with race, in its history as an idea, and in the science of human variation—and the impact has been enormous. Since its debut, RACE has traveled to more than 45 museums, and reached far more with the holistic, human understanding that only anthropology can provide through its accompanying website and companion book.

“I still don’t know a professional association that has gone outside its comfort zone to do such a huge public education project. That took some guts and a lot of leadership, but we could not have done it—we would not have even scraped the surface—without financial support.”

—Alan Goodman, professor of biological anthropology, Hampshire College

Shaping the future of AAA and anthropology

Alisse Waterston witnessed the power of AAA while serving as president from 2015 to 2017, when she saw firsthand how anthropologists could find both support for their work and the infrastructure to build on one another’s momentum. A steadfast supporter of AAA for years, Alisse gives to help the Association stay nimble and responsive in the wake of emerging issues, and to foster knowledge production in anthropology while creating opportunities to share that knowledge with people everywhere.

“AAA creates venues—in the form of physical and social spaces, in its publications, projects and programs and more—for anthropologists to make connections and to collaborate.”

—Alisse Waterston, presidential scholar and professor of cultural anthropology, John Jay College, City University of New York

The American Anthropological Association would like to thank the following individuals and institutions for their support in 2019

All listings are based on actual donations to the AAA Annual Campaign, or an AAA award or sponsorship, received from January 1 through December 31, 2019. This list does not include any pledges or multi-year grants received before 2019. Special thanks to our donors who joined the Annual Campaign Leadership Circle with a donation to this campaign of $500 and above.

Special Recognition

Special thanks to the following donors for their generous support over the years.

Carole H. Browner
William Douglass
Louise Lamphere
Robert Lemelson Foundation
Janna Marchione
Yolanda T. Moses
Wenner-Gren Foundation

Benefactors ($5,000 and up)

Charles A. Bishop
Carole H. Browner
William H. Heaney
Edward Liebow and Erin Younger
Oxford University Press
Smithsonian Institution National Museum American Indian

Patrons ($1,000-$4,999)

Marion I. Berghahn
Toby Bernstein
Elizabeth K. Briody
Carol J. Greenhouse
Institute of American Indian Arts
Louise Lamphere
Yolanda T. Moses
Museum of International Folk Art
Museum of New Mexico
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
Thomas C. Patterson
Irwin Press
Eric Ratliff
School for Advanced Research
Yohko Tsuji
Alisse Waterston
Wheelright Museum
Linda M. Whiteford

Associates ($100-$249)

Cheryl S. Ajirotutu
Anne Allison
Jason Antrosio
Association for the Anthropology of Policy
Florence E. Babb
Christine Bachrach
Lee D. Baker
Richard Bauman
Keith V. Bletzer
Dominic C. Boyer
Judith E. Brown
Katherine E. Browne
Richard Choquette
Stephen A. Chrisomalis
Patricia M. Clay
Community Foundation of North Central Florida
Margaret W. Conkey
Scott Cook
Costco UW Campaign
Jessie Hutchison Curtis
Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good
Paul L. Doughty
Michael A. Fortun
Brian L. Foster
Robert J. Foster
Javier Francisco-Ortega
David W. Fruehling
Byron J. Good and Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good
Nelson H. Graburn
Karl Gurcke
Edmund T. Hamann
Suzanne Hanchett
Monica Heller
Kregg Hetherington
Patricia J. Higgins
Susanna M. Hoffman
Cymene Howe
Susan B. Hyatt
Alice B. Kehoe
Susan M. Kenyon
Dolores B. Koenig
Pauline Komnenich
Conrad P. Kottak
Andrew Lass
Carolyn K. Lesorogol
Janet E. Levy
Katina Lillios
Alice Littlefield
Elaine Lynch
Jeffrey L. MacDonald
Patricia D. Mail
Lindy L. Mark
Conception Martinez-Maske
David W. McCurdy
Beverly Anne McPhail
William P. Mitchell
Leith P. Mullings
Michael Nathan
Christopher T. Nelson
Ralph W. Nicholas
Elizabeth Nicholson
Carolyn R. Nordstrom
Julian E. Orr
Sherry B. Ortner
Kathryn S. Oths
Joanne Passaro
Vincent J. Patti
Heather A. Paxson
Ramona L. Perez
Charlie Piot
Robert W. Preucel
Peter Redfield
Altha Rodgers
Anna Roosevelt
Jennifer Roth-Gordon
Danilyn Rutherford
Barbara Rylko-Bauer
Edward L. Schieffelin
Donna B. Searles
Dianna J. Shandy
Ariel Smith
Jerry Lee Smith
Jay Sokolovsky
Mark Somerville
Lynn M. Stephen
Rebecca A. Stephenson
Lavia Stone
Noah M. Tamarkin
James Trostle
Sonja D. Turner
University of New Mexico, Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies
University of Rochester Library
James Vigil
Alaka Wali
Maria-Barbara Watson
Brad Weiss
Dennis Wiedman
David R. Wilcox
Jing Xu

Donations were made “In Honor Of” the following individuals and committees

AAA Resource Development Committee Members
Anne Buddenhagen
Lambros Comitas
Laresa Lynne Dern
Ina Rosenthal-Urey
Sue Wall

Donations were made “In Memory Of” the following individuals

Nancy Abelmann
Thomas Belmonte
Franz Boas
George Bond
Lina Brock
Barry Chevannes
John Donahue
May Ebihara
Richard B. Freeman
A. Thomas Kirsch
Saba Mahmood
Tom Marchione
Claudia Rogers
Sydel Silverman
Jan Vansina
Andrew Hunter Whiteford

2019 Section Donations

The Association would also like to thank the following individuals for their support of section sponsored campaigns, awards, and prizes

Association for Africanist Anthropology (AFAA) Elliott P. Skinner Book Award

Gwendolyn Mikell

Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA) Book Prize in Critical Anthropology

Sherry B. Ortner

Association of Senior Anthropologists (ASA) Singer Fund

Paul L. Doughty
William P. Mitchell

Central States Anthropological Society (CSAS) Leslie A. White Award Fund

David W. Fruehling

Council for Museum Anthropology (CMA) Section Meeting Donations

Institute of American Indian Arts
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Museum of International Folk Art
Museum of New Mexico
Ralph T. Coe, Center for the Arts Inc.
School for Advanced Research
Smithsonian Institution National Museum American Indian
University of New Mexico, Alfonso Oritz Center for Intercultural Studies
University of New Mexico, Museum Studies
Wheelwright Museum

Society for the Anthropological Sciences (SAS) SAS Russell Bernard Fund

Stephen A. Chrisomalis

Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA) Open Access Publishing Program

Dominic C. Boyer
Michael A. Fortun
Robert J. Foster
Kregg Hetherington
Cymene Howe
Meghan Morris
Christopher T. Nelson
Heather A. Paxson
Charlie Piot
Peter Redfield
Altha Rodgers
Danilyn Rutherford
Nick Seaver
Ariel Smith
Mark Somerville
Noah M. Tamarkin
University of Rochester Library
Brad Weiss

Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA) Estellie Smith Award Fund

Charles A. Bishop
Costco UW Campaign

Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA) Halperin Fund

Dolores B. Koenig

Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) Basker Prize Fund

Virginia R. Dominguez

Society for Linguistic Anthropology (SLA) Gumperz Fund

Jennifer Roth-Gordon

Society for Psychological Anthropology (SPA) Whiting Biennal Travel Grant

Susan Abbott-Jamieson
Christine Bachrach
Susan F. Hirsch
Holly M Hoag
A. Katherine Lambert-Pennington
Justine McCabe
Beverly Anne McPhil
Elizabeth Nicholson
Joanne Passaro
Yohko Tsuji
David B. Wong
Jing Xu

Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE) Health Prize

Kathryn M. Anderson-Levitt

SECTION DONATIONS WERE MADE IN 2019 “IN HONOR OF” THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS

Joanne Berthelsen Somerville

SECTION DONATIONS WERE MADE IN 2019 “IN MEMORY OF” THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS

Naomi Robin Quinn
Mary Margaret Steedly

AAA has taken care to ensure the accuracy of this list.

If, however, there should be an omission or error, we express our sincere regret and ask that you bring it to our attention at donor@americananthro.org.