Education and career
Finnegan published numerous articles on theory, method and application of osteological analysis in population studies and forensic applications. He has conducted research in Africa, Australia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe, as well as various areas of North and South America. Dr. Finnegan is a recipient of the "William L. Stamey Teaching Award" in undergraduate instruction, the "John C. Hazelet Award" as the outstanding member of the Kansas Division of the International Association for Identification, the "Bartucz Lajos Award" from Jozsef Attila University and the "T. Dale Stewart Award" from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Finnegan was elected to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1976 and selected as a Fellow in 1978. He has served the academy in numerous capacities, including section representative on the board of directors and as vice president.
When he is called to a case, Finnegan determines the deceased's physical characteristics, establishes approximate time of death and keeps authorities informed of his progress. He has identified downed American pilots in Vietnam, dissidents in Eastern Europe and even Jesse James. Finnegan has lectured throughout the world. He also has been contacted for consultation by forensic labs worldwide.
He has published numerous articles on theory, method and application of osteological analysis in population studies and forensic applications.
Finnegan has received the Kansas Attorney General's Certificate of Merit in recognition of outstanding service rendered to law enforcement in and for the state of Kansas by a private citizen.
He has also received K-State's William L. Stamey Teaching Award in undergraduate instruction, the John C. Hazelet Award as an outstanding member of the Kansas Division of the International Association for Identification, the Bartucz Lajos Award from the University of Szeged, Hungary, the Outstanding Senior Scientist Award from Sigma Xi and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Physical Anthropology Section's T. Dale Stewart Award.
He frequently participates in discussion panels at the Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave.
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science principles and methods to support legal decision-making in matters of criminal and civil law.
Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable, as might happen in a plane crash. Forensic anthropologists are also instrumental in the investigation and documentation of genocide and mass graves. Along with forensic pathologists, forensic dentists, and homicide investigators, forensic anthropologists commonly testify in court as expert witnesses. Using physical markers present on a skeleton, a forensic anthropologist can potentially determine a person's age, sex, stature, and race. In addition to identifying physical characteristics of the individual, forensic anthropologists can use skeletal abnormalities to potentially determine cause of death, past trauma such as broken bones or medical procedures, as well as diseases such as bone cancer.
Osteology is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification from cartilaginous molds, and the resistance and hardness of bones (biophysics).
Wilton Marion Krogman was an American anthropologist. He was a leader in the development of the field of physical anthropology, with an early and lasting interest in dental anthropology.
Forensic facial reconstruction is the process of recreating the face of an individual from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, anthropology, osteology, and anatomy. It is easily the most subjective—as well as one of the most controversial—techniques in the field of forensic anthropology. Despite this controversy, facial reconstruction has proved successful frequently enough that research and methodological developments continue to be advanced.
Lauren B. Resnick is an educational psychologist who has made notable contributions to the cognitive science of learning and instruction. She is a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and was previously director of the University's Learning Research and Development Center. In 1986-1987, Resnick was the president of the American Educational Research Association. She received the 1998 E. L. Thorndike Award from the American Psychological Association.
Susan Margaret Black, Baroness Black of Strome, is a Scottish forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic. She was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University and is past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She is President of St John's College, Oxford.
Karen T. Taylor is an American forensic and portrait artist who has worked to help resolve criminal cases for a variety of law enforcement agencies throughout the world. Her primary expertise includes composite imagery, child and adult age progression, postmortem drawing and forensic facial reconstruction. In the mid-1980s, Taylor pioneered the method of 2-dimensional facial reconstruction, by drawing facial features over frontal and lateral skull photographs based on anthropological data. Taylor is also well-established as a forensic art educator, fine art portrait sculptor, and specialist in the human face.
Waldo Rudolph Wedel was an American archaeologist and a central figure in the study of the prehistory of the Great Plains. He was born in Newton, Kansas to a family of Mennonites.
Douglas H. Ubelaker is an American forensic anthropologist. He works as a curator for the Smithsonian Institution, and has published numerous papers and monographs that have helped establish modern procedures in forensic anthropology. He has also done work in Latin America, with Native Americans, and has assisted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in forensic cases.
Cherry A. Murray is an American academic who is professor of physics and the director of the Biosphere2 Institute at the University of Arizona at Tucson. She is the Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy emerita at, and former dean of, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
The University of Florida's (UF) online forensic science distance education programs cater to working professionals and students who have completed their Bachelor of Science degrees.
Ripley Pierce Bullen (1902–1976) was Curator Emeritus at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, where he was the Department Chair of Social Sciences for a period of seventeen years (1956–1973). He was an archaeologist primarily associated with the Southeastern United States and Florida, and in his later years he was known as the "dean of Floridian archaeology". He also completed fieldwork in the American Southwest, the New England states, Central America, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
Richard L. Jantz is an American anthropologist. He served as the director of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility from 1998–2011 and he is the current Professor Emeritus of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses primarily on forensic anthropology, skeletal biology, dermatoglyphics, anthropometry, anthropological genetics, and human variation, as well as developing computerized databases in these areas which aid in anthropological research. The author of over a hundred journal articles and other publications, his research has helped lead and shape the field of physical and forensic anthropology for many years.
Hugh Berryman is a U.S. forensic anthropologist with areas of expertise in blunt force trauma, skeletal remains, and osteology. He is one of only three forensic anthropologists in the state of Tennessee and seventy-four in the nation certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. Additionally, he has received two awards offered by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS): the Ellis R. Kerley Award in 2008 and the T. Dale Stewart lifetime achievement award in 2012. Due to his areas of expertise and qualifications, his assistance has been sought by local, state, and federal authorities as well as private interests.
Caroline M. Wilkinson is a British anthropologist and academic, who specialises in forensic facial reconstruction. She has been a professor at the Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design since 2014. She is best known for her work in forensic facial reconstruction and has been a contributor to many television programmes on the subject, as well as the creator of reconstructed heads of kings Richard III of England in 2013 and Robert the Bruce of Scotland in 2016.
Geraldine Lee Richmond is an American chemist and physical chemist who is serving as the Under Secretary of Energy for Science in the US Department of Energy. Richmond was confirmed to her DOE role by the United States Senate on November 5, 2021. Richmond is the Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon (UO). She conducts fundamental research to understand the chemistry and physics of complex surfaces and interfaces. These understandings are most relevant to energy production, atmospheric chemistry and remediation of the environment. Throughout her career she has worked to increase the number and success of women scientists in the U.S. and in many developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America. Richmond has served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she received the 2013 National Medal of Science.
Richard G. Hiskey was an American chemist and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Hiskey joined the department of chemistry of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1958. He served in various capacities within the university, including director of graduate studies (1965-1970) and chairman of the department (1970-1975), (elected) chairman of the division of natural sciences from 1975 to 1981, and faculty representative to the Atlantic Coast Conference and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (1985-1995).
Phoebe Stubblefield is an American forensic anthropologist specializing in human skeletal variation, human identification, and paleopathology. She is currently the Interim Director of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida. She was formerly an associate professor at the University of North Dakota, where she also served as Chair of the Anthropology Department and Director of the Forensic Science Program. Her research integrates cultural anthropology and forensic science. She is currently leading efforts to locate and identify the remains of hundreds of victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
Mary Huffman Manhein is an American forensic anthropologist. Nicknamed The Bone Lady, she was the founding director of the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) laboratory at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1990, and of the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing Persons Information Program in 2006. The repository is considered the "most comprehensive statewide database of its kind".
