Congratulations to Marilyn London for 20 Years of Service to the Department of Anthropology

Congratulations to Marilyn London, who is retiring at the end of this year after more than 20 years of service to the Department of Anthropology. 

Marilyn London began her long-term relationship with the Department of Anthropology in 1999 when she began teaching forensic courses to first responders through the department. This was one of the department’s first attempts to teach applied courses to the general public. As a Professional Track Faculty member, she taught courses including Introduction to Biological Anthropology; Introduction to Forensic Sciences; Paleopathology and Paleodemography; Human Skeletal Anatomy; Plagues, Pathogens, and Public Policy; Anthropology in Forensic Science; Exploring Family History using Anthropology; and Public Health Emergency Preparedness.

Marilyn London has worked as a professional forensic anthropologist for more than three decades. Her casework over the years included homicides, incinerated, disarticulated, and/or skeletonized remains, victims of small aircraft crashes, and accidental and natural deaths. She served on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services D-MORT Team, responding to multiple mass disaster incidents, including a prison riot in 1980, commercial airplane crashes, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Her role in these cases included the recovery and identification of victim’s remains, and collaboration with medical examiners and law enforcement agencies in the investigation of crimes. Marilyn also carried out research on the human skeletal collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. 

In 2017, Marilyn London formed a strategic partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD) through the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), assisting with the recovery, identification, and repatriation of missing military personnel from WWII, providing closure to their families and fulfilling our national responsibility to our fallen soldiers. As part of this partnership, Marilyn led a field school in Austria to find, survey, and investigate a crash site of a US military aircraft and associated flight crew from WWII. The team used archaeological methods to identify and recover the wreckage of aircraft and the remains of the missing-in-action (MIA) flight crewmembers.

In 2018, Marilyn London was selected to receive the Provost's Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty, presented during the Teaching & Learning Transformation Center’s annual award ceremony. The award honors Marilyn’s 20+ years of innovative teaching and mentoring at the University of Maryland, as well as her nationally important work with the Department of Defense. 

Congratulations to Marilyn London for a productive and impactful career. We wish her all the best in her future adventures, and a happy move to New Mexico, once the pandemic allows!  

Check out this short video we created as a thank you to her: https://umd.box.com/s/yab84pii3z5l2x9hlnxi0gufynin3eh6

Published on Fri, 08/07/2020 - 10:48