In Sept., ETSU presented Sied Davis “S.D.” Dean with a Service Award for his contributions to scientific discovery in the surrounding areas, specifically in the fields of anthropology and paleontology.
The award is one of many that Dean has received for his work, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award, which he was given by the Tennessee Council for Professional Archeologists in 2006.
S.D. Dean was born in Kingsport, TN, where the first ground he dug up–his mother’s garden–now lies stripped of its treasures, and since then he has spent nearly his entire life exploring the terrain that surrounds it. According to the ETSU website, Dean has made contributions to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Museum and the Gray Fossil Site, as well as to both ETSU and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
In addition to excavating fossils, he has published numerous research journals and spent time mentoring ETSU students in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
“I think S.D. has been one of the biggest local boosters of importance of the past,” said Dr. Chris Widga, the head curator at the Gray Fossil Site, where Dean volunteers with numerous educational programming endeavors, such as Archeology Day. “He recognized that engaging the public in history didn’t stop with, well, history. It also includes rocks, fossils, arrowheads and pottery fragments.”
Along with his time and mentorship, he has also donated a collection of records and artifacts for both student and faculty research. He has never once expected or taken any form of payment for his work; it is something that he does out of pure enjoyment.
“People have to keep pushing forward – that’s how it moves,” said Dean. “Hopefully, I moved the needle forward a little bit, and maybe now students, or whoever’s coming into the field, will keep adding to that knowledge. The next person can grab the needle and keep going.”
S.D. Dean was presented with the Service Award by Dr. Blaine Schubert, the executive director of ETSU’s Center for Excellence in Paleontology, and Dr. William Duncan, chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at ETSU. The event took place at the Gray Fossil Site and was attended by friends, family and ETSU students and staff.
