Patrick Vinton Kirch
Encyclopedia
Patrick Vinton Kirch is an archaeologist who studies Oceanic and Polynesia prehistory. He is the Class of 1954 Professor Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. He also serves as Curator of Oceanic Archaeology in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and was director of that Museum from 1999 to 2002.
He has published widely: many articles and nine books. He is known for his belief that practitioners of archaeology, historical linguistics, human genetic studies, ethnology, and archival historical research can work together to give a fuller picture of the past than any discipline alone could do. In 1997 Kirch was awarded the John J. Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences
.
. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania
and at Yale University
. He received his Ph.D from Yale
in 1975.
From 1975-1984 Kirch served on the staff of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
In 1984, Kirch became the Director of the Burke Museum in Seattle, Washington
, and an Associate Professor at the University of Washington.
In 1989, he took a position at the University of California, Berkeley
.
He has published widely: many articles and nine books. He is known for his belief that practitioners of archaeology, historical linguistics, human genetic studies, ethnology, and archival historical research can work together to give a fuller picture of the past than any discipline alone could do. In 1997 Kirch was awarded the John J. Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
.
Career
Kirch was born and raised in HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He received his Ph.D from Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in 1975.
From 1975-1984 Kirch served on the staff of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
In 1984, Kirch became the Director of the Burke Museum in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, and an Associate Professor at the University of Washington.
In 1989, he took a position at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Publications
- On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact, University of California Press (published 2002), 446 pages. ISBN 0520234618, 9780520234611