The Board of Trustees of the American Center
of Oriental Research (ACOR) at their meeting held in Providence,
Rhode Island on April 16, 2005 unanimously selected Dr. Barbara
A. Porter to succeed the retiring director, Dr.
Pierre Bikai. Her appointment will take place in the early
spring of 2006.
Dr. Porter has held various positions at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and she taught
for several semesters in the Fine Arts Department at New
York University. She has worked as the Assistant Curator
in both the departments of Ancient Near East and Egyptian
Art, as well as Gallery Lecturer and Instructor in the Education
Department. She received her A. B. from Bryn Mawr College
from the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology
and her Ph.D. in 2001 from Columbia University from the Department
of Art History and Archaeology. Dr. Porter has led several
Smithsonian and Metropolitan Museum tours to the Near East
and has excavated in Jordan and Syria.
Dr. Porter's appointment follows the retirement
of Pierre Bikai who has served as the director
of ACOR for 14 years. Dr. Bikai oversaw major archaeological
projects in Amman, Petra, and Madaba. He has been a pioneer
in conservation and preservation. He and his wife, Dr. Patricia
Bikai, who has served as Associate Director, will
divide their time between Jordan and the United States.
The American Center of Oriental Research
in Amman, Jordan is a private, non-profit academic institution
dedicated to promoting research and publication in the fields
of archaeology, anthropology, history, languages, biblical
studies, Arabic, Islamic studies and other aspects of Near
Eastern studies. Since its founding in 1968, ACOR has served
as a liaison between Jordanian institutions both academic
and governmental represented by the Department of Antiquities,
for scholars working in Jordan. ACOR provides advice, coordination,
equipment, research, library and living facilities as well
as meeting space for scholars in an environment that is both
academically exciting and socially congenial.
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