Vincas Steponaitis, Secretary of the Faculty (2016-2021)

Vincas P. Steponaitis is a professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, and formerly served as chair of the Curriculum in Archaeology and Director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology. Steponaitis received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan. He joined the Carolina faculty in January 1988 and served as secretary of the faculty from 2016-2021.

Steponaitis’s research focuses on the precolonial Indian cultures of the American South, the development of chiefdoms, studies of ancient art styles, and the analysis of ancient ceramics. In addition to numerous articles, his books include Ceramics, Chronology, and Community Patterns: An Archaeological Study at Moundville (Academic Press 1993; reprinted U. Alabama Press 2009), Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom (co-edited with V.J. Knight, Smithsonian Inst. Press 1998; reprinted U. Alabama Press 2007), and Rethinking Moundville and its Hinterland (co-edited with C. Margaret Scarry, U. Press of Florida, 2016). He co-created Excavating Occaneechi Town (UNC Press 1998), one of the first digital monographs in archaeology, which won the PSP Electronic Product Award from the American Association of Publishers. Among many recognitions, he has been honored with a Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring and a C. Felix Harvey Award from UNC-Chapel Hill.

At the last Faculty Council meeting of the 2020-2021 academic year, the Council passed Resolution 2021-7: On Appreciation for Vincas P. Steponaitis’s Service as Secretary of the Faculty, 2016-2021 [PDF] in his honor.