It is with regret that we inform you of the death of Professor Phillip L. Walker on February 6, 2009.

Professor Phillip Walker was a bioarchaeologist in the Department of Anthropology since 1974. He used human skeletal remains to address questions regarding human health, diet, pathologies, trauma, and behavior as they have been manifested in human populations through time and over space. As a researcher he was strategically positioned between the biological and social sciences. Dr. Walker addressed fascinating questions about the human condition in unique and interesting ways.  As a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students he was in high demand and involved his students in his broad range of research. Dr. Walker also volunteered his forensic services to numerous public agencies dealing with human remains. He was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2003 and was an appointed member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Repatriations Review Committee from 2003-2007. Dr. Walker was President (2003-2005) and Vice President (2000-2002) of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA).

At the time of his death, Professor Walker was working on a number of bioarchaeological projects involving collections of human skeletal remains from various parts of the world, including Africa, central Asia, and Europe. He was the co-director of an archaeological project in Iceland that includes the excavation of a settlement period cemetery and church. Walker was a principle investigator on a large NSF-funded collaborative project entitled “A History of Health in Europe from the Late Paleolithic Era to the Present.” This project involves researchers from many European countries. Its goal is to measure and analyze the evolution of skeletal health by combining data from human remains with information gathered from sources in archaeology, climate history, geography, and history.

Dr. Walker’s dedication to his research, students and UCSB is unmatched and he is greatly missed.