The study of anthropology at the University of Utah dates back to 1914, when a Department of Archeology was established under the leadership of Dean Byron Cummings. The disciplines of anthropology and sociology were combined in a single department under Dr. Levi Edgar Young in 1917. An independent Department of Anthropology was established under Professor Andrew Kerr in 1926. Anthropology and sociology were combined again in 1935. In 1948 anthropology was reconstituted as an independent department with E.A. Hoebel as chair and has remained so ever since.
During the period covered by these records, Jesse Jennings (1953-1961, 1966-1967), Charles Dibble (1961-1964), Robert Euler (1964-1966), Wick Miller (1967-1969), Seymore Parker (1969-1978), John McCullough (1979-1985), Larry Loeb (1985-1990), Dennis O'Rourke (1990-1996), and Kristen Hawkes (1996-1997) served as chair.
From the guide to the University of Utah Department of Anthropology records, 1939-1997, (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah)
