Michels, Joseph W. (Joseph William)

Joseph Michels was born in 1936. He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1958, his master's degree in anthropology in 1963, and his doctoral degree in anthropology in 1965, all from the University of California at Los Angeles. Michels joined the anthropology faculty at the Pennsylvania State University in 1965. In 1984 he became Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Instruction in the College of Liberal Arts. While a professor, Michels directed archaeological excavations and surveys at the Sheep Rock Shelter site in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, an ancient Mayan center in Guatemala, and the Tigrean Plateau in Northern Ethiopia. He also established the Obsidian Hydration Dating Laboratory. As Associate Dean, he helped increase college resources to support faculty in their research. Michels was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and past president of the Society for Archaeological Sciences. When he retired from Penn State with emeritus rank in 1997, he had authored or edited eleven books and published more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports.