Office of the Vice President for Research

NAGPRA Advisory Committee

In 2010, the Vice President for Research established a NAGPRA Advisory Committee to recommend operating policies and procedures, and otherwise advise on specific matters as requested by the Vice President. The committee consists of representatives from Native Nations and individuals with broad perspectives on University and NAGPRA related matters. The Vice President appoints members of the committee to renewable, fixed terms of three years in length. Terms of service will be staggered to ensure reasonable continuity of membership from year to year. Efforts will be made to ensure a diversity of perspectives.

Current NAGPRA Advisory Committee Members

    • Geoffrey Thün (Chair) – Associate Vice President for Research – Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, Office of the Vice President for Research; Professor of Architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, U-M
    • William Johnson – Director, Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways; Chair of the Michigan Anishinabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance; and NAGPRA Designee and Member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan
    • Michael Galaty (ex officio with vote) – Director and Curator, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology; Professor of Anthropology, U-M
    • Rob Beck – Associate Director and Associate Curator of North American Archaeology, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology; Associate Professor of Anthropology, U-M
    • David Bloom – Jack Lapides Professor of Urology and Chair of the Department of Urology, U-M
    • Sarah Buss – Associate Professor of Philosophy, U-M
    • Gregory Dowd – Helen Hornbeck Tanner Collegiate Professor of History and American Culture, U-M
    • Barbra Meek – Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics, U-M
    • Robert Megginson – Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Professor of Mathematics; and Associate Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Education (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts), U-M
    • Christopher Ratté – Professor of Classical Archaeology in the Department of Classical Studies and the History of Art, U-M
    • Steven Wright – Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, U-M
    • Ben Secunda (ex officio without vote) – NAGPRA Office Managing Director, Office of the Vice President for Research, U-M

(As of January 1, 2023)