Rate My Professor Vernon Scarborough

Vernon L. Scarborough is a Distinguished University Research Professor and Charles Phelps Taft Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cincinnati. He holds a B.S. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon (1973) and a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University (1980), where his dissertation examined the settlement system in a Late Preclassic Maya community at Cerros, Northern Belize, under advisor David A. Freidel. His academic career began with roles at the University of Texas at El Paso (1982-1987) as lecturer, instructor, and field school director, including directing the Fort Bliss Meyer Pithouse Project and the Jebel Marra Archaeological Project in Sudan. Since joining the University of Cincinnati in 1988 as Assistant Professor, he advanced to Associate Professor (1992-1999), Professor (1999-present), Department Head (2008-2010), and his current distinguished positions. Scarborough has taught and conducted fieldwork internationally, including Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Peshawar, Pakistan (1986), and postdoctoral exchange at the University of Khartoum, Sudan (1981-1982).

Scarborough's research focuses on settlement, land use, and water management in archaic states, analyzing ancient engineered water systems and landscapes to address sustainability from a comparative ecological perspective. Since 1991, he has directed the Ancient Maya Water Management Project in Guatemala and Belize, and since 1992, co-directed the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project in northwestern Belize with Fred Valdez, Jr. Additional fieldwork spans the Argolid, Greece (1994), Bali, Indonesia (1998), and projects funded by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and Taft Foundation. His contributions include 7 books, such as The Flow of Power: Ancient Water Systems and Landscapes (2003) and editor of The Mesoamerican Ballgame (1991), plus over 70 chapters and articles, including "Water and sustainable land use at the ancient tropical city of Tikal, Guatemala" (2012, PNAS). Awards encompass the Weatherhead Fellowship and two Summer Resident Scholarships from the School of American Research (1995-1996, 1996, 2000), the All-University Faculty Rieveschl Award (2004), and Taft Center Fellowship (2006-2007). He edited Water and Humanity: A Historical Overview for UNESCO and serves on the IHOPE Scientific Steering Committee, influencing global studies on past human-environment interactions and future resilience.