Reception Honoring Professor Susan I. Rotroff

Last week there was a two day conference sponsored by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens honoring Professor Susan I. Rotroff (Washington University), this year’s recipient of the Archaeological Institute of America’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement. This very well-attended conference entitled, “The Matter of Antiquity: An Archaeological Conference in Honor of Susan I. Rotroff”, focused on topics related to her interests in Hellenistic and Early Roman pottery, the Hellenistic period and the Athenian Agora as well as her positive influence on her colleagues and as a role model to her students.

Professor Mark Lawall (a member of CIG’s Board of Directors from the University of Manitoba) and Professor Kathleen Lynch (University of Cincinnati) organized the event for the Athenian Agora Excavations. They suggested that it should conclude with a reception on Saturday evening at the Institute. This was more than appropriate as Susan has solid Canadian connections, having taught at Mount Allison University (Sackville, New Brunswick) as well as studied and published material from the Institute’s Southern Euboea Exploration Project. The reception filled the Institute’s premises to the rafters. The attendees reminisced, renewed old friendships and made new acquaintances. We wish to thank Mark and Kathleen for their imagination and diligence in organizing such an excellent and interesting event. It was a fitting tribute to Susan’s long and influential career.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director