| 1 | Name: | Dr. George F. Bass | |
| Institution: | Texas A & M University | ||
| Year Elected: | 1989 | ||
| Class: | 4. Humanities | ||
| Subdivision: | 401. Archaeology | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1932 | ||
| Death Date: | March 2, 2021 | ||
George F. Bass graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with an M.A. in Near Eastern archaeology and attended the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. From 1957 to 1959 he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and then began doctoral studies in classical archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1960 he learned to dive so that he could direct the first archaeological excavation of an ancient shipwreck, a Bronze Age wreck off Turkey. While excavating Byzantine shipwrecks off Turkey, Dr. Bass developed a submersible decompression chamber, a method of mapping under water by stereo-photogrammetry, and a two-person submarine, the Asherah, which was launched in 1964. That same year, he joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty. In 1967 his team was the first to locate an ancient wreck with sonar. In 1968 and 1971, he returned to land excavations in Greece and Italy. In 1973, Dr. Bass founded the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, which in 1976 affiliated with Texas A&M University, where, until his retirement in 2000, he was the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Distinguished Professor of Nautical Archaeology. He also held the George O. Yamini Family Chair. He is currently Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Texas A & M. The Institute conducts research on four continents, but Dr. Bass concentrates on Mediterranean sites from the Bronze Age though Byzantine times. Dr. Bass has received a National Medal of Science, the Archaeological Institute of America's Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement, the Bandelier Award from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology which accompanied a lectureship established in his name at the Archaeological Institute of America, a Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorers Club, the J.C. Harrington Medal from the Society for Historical Archaeology, the National Geographic Society's La Gorce Medal, and one of its fifteen Centennial Awards. Dr. Bass holds honorary doctorates from Boghaziçi University in Istanbul and the University of Liverpool. He is also an honorary citizen of Bodrum, Turkey. Dr. Bass was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1989. He died on March 2, 2021. | |||