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As a close colleague of David Kingery, I am saddened to have to report to you that he died suddenly yesterday in Rhode Island of (as we currently understand) a heart attack. He was 72 years of age. David was too well known in the archaeometric community for me to have to reiterate his achievements, for which he was awarded the Pomerance Medal of the American Institute of Archaeology in 1998. Archaeometrists may not however be fully aware of his prior career as the father of the field of advanced ceramics, which brought him the Kyoto Prize only last year. I am therefore forwarding an appreciation of him by two colleagues in the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona. He was truly an intellectual giant, and we shall miss him very much. One aspect of the work of his later years that is less appreciated than his excellent technical studies of archaeological ceramics is his deep interest in the social context of technology - how social forces shape innovation and diffusion of techniques. This thread runs through the series that he edited for the American Ceramic Society, entitled Cermaics and Civilization, nine volumes of which have appeared, and in the two conferences that he organized with the Smithsonian Institution on material culture (Kingery and Lubar, eds., Learning from Things, and Kingery, ed. History from Things). In these he sought to extend the insights of Cyril Stanley Smith, formerly his senior colleague at M.I.T. Through them he has greatly influenced a younger generation of work on the history and prehistory of technology. I do not yet have an address for condolences to his widow, Lily Kingery, but will post it when I do. ---------------------- David Killick Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030. Phones: office (520)621-8685; laboratory 621-7986; fax 621-2088 [log in to unmask] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 15:00:53 -0700 (MST) From: Tom Peterson <[log in to unmask]> To: Engineering Faculty/Deans <[log in to unmask]> Cc: [log in to unmask] Subject: Professor David Kingery Dear Friends, It is with deep regret and an immeasurable sense of loss that we write to tell you that Professor David Kingery passed away last night in Wickford, RI. Professor William David Kingery was Regents Professor of Anthropology and Materials Science and Engineering since 1992 and Chairperson of the Program on Culture, Science, Technology and Society at the University of Arizona which he joined in 1988. Prior to that he had been Regents Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution and Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins University for one year, preceeded by 14 years as Kyocera Professor of Ceramics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he had been since 1951. Professor Kingery's emminence in science and in the relation between science and culture were reflected by the many prizes and honors that he received throughout his career, including, most recently, the 1999 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology, and the W. David Kingery Prize, established in his honor by the American Ceramic Society and bestowed upon him in 1998 for "distinguished lifelong achievements involving multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural contributions to ceramic technology, science, education and art." His publications and books had a seminal influence on the development of ceramic curricula, research and technology throughout the world and he is considered to be the "father" of Physical Ceramics. Professor Kingery was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, honorary Ph.D. at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and honorary Sc.D. at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. His passing leaves a great hole in the hearts of all those whose life he touched, his family, his colleagues, his friends and his current and former students. Professor Kingery was a great man of our time and he leaves many rich and happy memories with all of us. A memorial service for Professor Kingery will be held in Tucson at a date to be determined. Flowers have been sent from the department and the college to his wife, Lily Kingery. Joseph Simmons Head, Materials Science and Engineering Tom Peterson Dean, Engineering and Mines %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%