Professor Nancy Odegaard is head of the Arizona State Museum’s Preservation Division. She is also a fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (IIC) and the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), as well as former president of the latter.
Professor Odegaard is known for her engagement with indigenous cultures. She is the lead author of an encyclopaedia titled Materials Analysis in Art and Archaeology (2005). The Department of Conservation uses this book in lab practicals on materials science and conservation together with Professor Odegaard’s book Old Poisons, New Problems: A Museum Resource for Managing Contaminated Cultural Materials (2005).
Odegaard is a colleague of Professor Elizabeth E. Peacock at the Department of Conservation, who will also serve as her host at the University of Gothenburg.
‘Nancy is a professional conservator with many years or practical experience. She is highly dedicated in sharing her knowledge and practical skills with the next generation of cultural conservationist,’ says Peacock.
Engagement in conservation of cultural heritage in Afghanistan and Iraq
Odegaard was keynote speaker at the fourth Nordic Conservation PhD Colloquium – a symposium founded by Professor Peacock.
Professor Odegaard has been a leader in the development of contacts with Afghan conservation scholars. She is also an important member of a network that includes the University of Delaware, University of Arizona and Getty Conservation Institute and that collaborates with an Iraqi institute for the conservation of cultural heritage (Mika).
‘Nancy is particularly interested in reaching out to stakeholders in society to give them an opportunity to actively protect their material and immaterial cultural heritage,’ says Professor Elizabeth E. Peacock.
Professor Odegaard recently completed a fellowship at ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) in Rome, and she has also been a Getty Conservation Institute scholar.
Odegaard has worked internationally with archaeological excavations and with the Fulbright programme People to People, as well as with various projects for the U.S. Department of State. Her research concerning characterisation and testing of materials, human remains, pottery and baskets has resulted in widely used publications. Moreover, she is in very high demand as a lecturer and instructor.
‘The appointment of Professor Odegaard as honorary doctor at the University of Gothenburg will lead to future collaborations, in particular with the University of Gothenburg-sponsored Centrum för Critical Heritage Studies,’ says her host Professor Peacock from the Department of Conservation.
According to the University of Gothenburg’s rules for the appointment of honorary doctors, appropriate candidates are researchers/teachers at other academic institutions who for a long time have participated in the development of research projects and PhD studies at the University of Gothenburg.