Barbara Hendry

— Biography from the 2021 Fall Commencement program —

Dr. Hendry earned her BA in Sociology (1972) and MA in Anthropology (1983) from Florida State University and completed her PhD in Anthropology (1991) at the University of Florida. She began her career at Georgia Southern in 1991and taught a variety of courses at all levels. She was passionate about guiding students to use anthropological perspectives to understand and critically analyze other cultures as well as their own, creatively combining teaching, research, and service. She served on multiple theses and dissertation committees, secured funding for fourteen student research assistants, and trained students and community volunteers to conduct and transcribe oral history interviews for cultural heritage research projects in southeast Georgia. She also worked with community groups in Bulloch County, the city of Savannah, and beyond to plan research and public programming and organize oral history collections for placement in archives. Dr. Hendry conducted ethnographic research on ethnic revitalization in the Spanish Basque Country and ethnicity and identity in Savannah’s Irish American community. She published in peer-reviewed journals and presented numerous papers at regional, national, and international conferences. Dr. Hendry was elected a Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology and was selected as a Fellow for Columbia University’s prestigious Oral History Summer Institute. She was awarded a Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship by the International Rotary Foundation and received external and internal research funding, as well as internal Faculty Development and Service awards. She has documented and preserved local cultural heritage, trained community groups to do their own oral history projects and provided public lectures. Dr. Hendry served as Undergraduate Program Director for Anthropology (2005-2015), as Faculty Senator and Senate Alternate, and on many departmental, college, and university committees, taking a number of leadership roles. Externally, she was elected Councilor and then President of the Southern Anthropological Society and served on the editorial board of the Southern Anthropologist. For these contributions to the University, the community, and her field, Dr. Barbara Hendry is deserving of the title of Associate Professor Emerita of Anthropology.*