Riverside, Calif., March, 2001-- The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) have presented seven of its members with awards at its centennial celebration. ASOR was founded in 1900 as the umbrella organization for American archaeologists working in the Middle East.

A member of ASOR and vice president of the American Center for Oriental Research since 1982, Lawrence T. Geraty was presented with the P.E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award. Geraty is president of La Sierra University and professor of religion and archaeology. He also directs the Madaba Plains Project, which is excavating several sites in southeast Jordan.

The award was presented by Geraty's colleague, Dr. Oystein LaBianca, an Andrews University professor and archaeologist who is excavating Tall Hisban in Jordan.

Following are Dr. Oystein's remarks upon the award presentation:

The recipient of this Centennial Year P.E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award is Lawrence Thomas Geraty. Dr. Geraty's career in archaeology got an early start when he lived with his missionary parents in Lebanon. At a tender age he developed a passion for the land of the Bible and archaeology. This eventually took him to the Theological Seminary at Andrews University and on to Harvard University where, in 1972, he completed a PhD in Hebrew Bible and biblical archaeology under the tutelage of George Ernest Wright and Frank Moore Cross.

On completion of the PhD, he returned to Andrews University, where he soon succeeded in establishing a base from which to work as an archaeologist, namely the Institute of Archaeology. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to the Institute helped establish its publication arm. Over the past two decades, the Institute has published seven of fourteen planned volumes in the Hisban Final Publication Series and four volumes of the Madaba Plains Seasonal Report Series. Many other publications of interest to archaeologists have been, and continue to be, produced.

As a field archaeologist, Geraty got his start at Gezer with Darrell Lance as field supervisor. In 1968 he joined Siegfried Horn and Roger Boraas at Tall Hisban, where he served the first three seasons as field supervisor. In 1974 he took over as director of the Hisban Expedition, which culminated with a final season in 1976. Under his leadership the expedition expanded greatly its scope of work and interdisciplinary staff, becoming one of ASOR's leading projects in terms of successful blending of traditional biblical archaeology concerns with those of the "new archaeology." The Madaba Plains Project, which Geraty launched together with larry Herr and Oystein LaBianca in 1982, was a direct outgrowth of the Hisban Expedition in the sense that the project was launched in order to answer numerous questions that had come to light in the process of preparing the final reports on the excavations. With its regional focus, its concern with long-term cultural change patterns, and its multi-disciplinary staff, the Madaba Plains Project sought to implement a vision of best practices in fieldwork and laboratory procedures based on lessons learned in the course of fieldwork at Tall Hisban.

Of Larry Geraty's many contributions to ASOR, ACOR, and the Madaba Plains Project, none have been more critical to the advance of field archaeology in Jordan and beyond than his masterful accomplishments as a team builder, consensus maker, and facilitator of the scholarly work of his students and colleagues. His leadership on various ASOR committees, the ACOR Board and the Madaba Plains Project has helped open doors for literally hundreds of students from Jordan, the United States, and many other countries to pursue their dreams of doing archaeology in the Holy Land.

It is a sincere pleasure to recognize Larry Geraty for his outstanding career as a builder of archaeologists and archaeological teams, as a promoter of cutting-edge research among his students and colleagues, and as a statesman in representing the interests of ASOR archaeologists to the broader public, with the presentation of this Centennial Year P.E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award.