Awarded October 2, 2021
2021 Distinguished Service Citation

Archaeologist Lynne Goldstein is surprised and humbled to be recognized with the
Distinguished Service Citation. The prolific author of archaeology articles and books was an institution in the anthropology departments of both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Michigan State University. Her career has focused on the legal protection of archaeological sites, spearheading a successful field school program, and investigating burial sites across the country.

Lynne’s Beloit education was transformational—and affordable. Although she knew that she wanted to be an archaeologist in high school, she says it was Beloit’s financial aid and work study jobs that sealed the deal. One of the anthropology major’s first projects was studying the debris of 100,000 chips of rock with Professor Bob Salzer in the Logan Museum—a job that at other schools would only have been open to graduate students. She also conducted a Beloit Field Term project in rural Illinois with faculty from Northwestern University, studying artifacts collected by amateur archaeologists in the area. Two papers came out of her projects at Beloit, as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Northwestern.

In Milwaukee, Lynne lobbied state legislators to incorporate historical and archaeological preservation into state law. Many of the programs she set in motion continue to be vital today. As chair of the anthropology department at Michigan State, she developed a unique project that excavated the land where the university’s first dorm once stood, a project that received praise from the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Chicago Tribune, among others. She led the Archaeology Field School for many years and conducted cultural resource management projects in Arizona and northern California in her time away from the lab.

Lynne retired from her position at Michigan State in 2018 to focus on writing. She’s juggling a few book and article projects, including on the topics of digital archaeology, an excavation consulting project she conducted in California, archaeology efforts on college campuses, and the mythical Aztec homeland of Aztalan. Her tireless work in promoting public education about archaeology and the preservation of history is inspirational.

The Beloit College Alumni Association is pleased to recognize Lynne Goldstein with the 2021 Distinguished Service Citation.