Archaeologists from across the Americas gathered in Davidson, North Carolina, from April 10-13, 2014 for a weekend-long Maya the Lago Conference to honour recently retired Trent Anthropology professor Dr. Paul F. Healy, with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Professor Healy’s 40-year career has included archaeological research in Belize, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Antigua & Barbuda, Trinidad, and the United States. While at Trent, he served as chair of the Department of Anthropology, director of the Anthropology Graduate Program, dean of Research & Graduate Studies, and acting dean of Arts & Science. From 2000-2005, Prof. Healy was the founding director of the Trent University Archaeological Research Centre (TUARC).

As a leading expert in the field, Prof. Healy has written extensively on the ancient Maya, and has published and edited four books, and over 50 articles or book chapters on American archaeology. In 1994, he received the Trent University Distinguished Research Award, the highest award for faculty scholarship at Trent. Prof. Healy retired in June 2013. 

The dedication in the Maya the Lago Conference program read: “Dr. Healy and his students have been responsible for a high percentage of the research carried out in Belize in the last forty years. It’s near impossible to have a discussion on Belize archaeology without mention of Paul or one of his students.”

Along with leading archaeologists, a group of Prof. Healy’s former students were present at the conference to help celebrate his accomplishments. Fourteen research papers by former Trent students, and several professional colleagues of Prof. Healy, were presented on topics reflecting his wide-ranging career interests, including the ancient Maya, and Pre-Columbian cultures of Lower Central America and the Caribbean. Trent alumni at the celebration included former undergraduate (B.A. & B.Sc. Anthropology) and graduate (MA Anthropology) students, ranging from 1976 to 2013, who have earned their doctorates from a dozen universities in Canada, the United States and United Kingdom, and are now professionals in the field of archaeology (Figure/Photo). Several recent Trent graduate students, now completing their Ph.D.s also attended to pay tribute to Prof. Healy, and his wife, Doreen (BA 1990), who also attended.

The papers presented at the Maya and Lago Conference are being assembled by organizers, Dr. Jaime Awe (University of Northern Arizona) and Heather McKillop (Louisiana State University), into an edited festschrift volume for publication in 2015.