Foundation Board
The Funk Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors that serves in a voluntary capacity to review grant applications, award and oversee grants, and administer funds. Per the Foundation's bylaws, the Board includes one representative of the Robert E. Funk family, and members representing (1) the New York State Museum Anthropology Collections department, (2) the New York State Archaeological Association, and (3) the New York Archaeological Council. At-large members may also serve on the Board. Individual members of the board are nominated to and elected by the existing Board of Directors.
Members
Dr. Jonathan C. Lothrop
Foundation President
Jonathan C. Lothrop received his graduate training in anthropology at Binghamton University. While there, he collaborated on Paleoindian site excavations in New York for his dissertation, receiving his Ph.D. in 1988. From 1988 to 2007, he worked in cultural resource management, directing survey, testing, and data recovery excavations on Native American archaeological sites from the Ohio Valley to New England. In 2008, Dr. Lothrop joined the New York State Museum as Curator of Archaeology to oversee the Indigenous archaeology collections and engage in public outreach and education activities. Since joining the Museum, Jon has built on early Paleoindian research by former state archaeologists Bill Ritchie and Bob Funk, recording site and artifact finds as part of the New York Paleoindian Database Project. During this time, he’s also been fortunate to collaborate with professional archaeologists and earth scientists at the NYSM and other institutions, and with avocational archaeologists across the state to help shed new light on the lifeways of the late Pleistocene peoples of New York.
Dr. Edward V. Curtin
Board Member
Ed Curtin is the President and Chief Archaeologist of Curtin Archaeological Consulting, Inc., a Cultural Resource Management firm. Among his publications are edited festschrifts for Robert E. Funk and Albert A. Dekin, Jr. His main area of expertise is the Archaic period in New York State. Some other main interests include the history of archaeology and anthropology, African American sites archaeology, and 19th century domestic sites archaeology. He earned a Ph. D. at Binghamton University where he also was a project director in the Public Archaeology Facility. He has served on the archaeological review staff of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as a Principal Investigator in the New York State Museum Cultural Resource Survey Program, and on the anthropology curation and collections management staff of the New York State Museum. He taught archaeology and anthropology in an adjunct role at Binghamton University, the University at Albany, Skidmore College, and Siena College.
Al Funk
Treasurer
Al Funk is a founding board member of the Funk Foundation, is the family board representative, and is currently Treasurer. After his father's death in 2002, Al worked with the New York State Museum and Bob Funk's colleagues to establish the Funk Foundation with the goal of continuing his father's legacy via the promotion of New York State archaeology.
Al grew up in upstate New York as the only child of Robert and Nadine Funk. Shortly after graduating from Williams College in Massachusetts, Al relocated to Northern Virginia where he lives with his wife Latisha Azweem and their three children, Tessa, Robert and Charlie.
For the last thirty years, Al has worked in technology at various organizations including the American Chemical Society, The Washington Post and Cvent. Most recently Al joined Meta where he works on enhancing the company's advertising platform.
Dr. Paul R. Huey
NYSAA Representative to Board
Paul R. Huey is a native of Rochester, N.Y., and lives near Cohoes, N.Y. He is a historical archaeologist, and his area of special interest is the upper Hudson Valley and the Champlain Valley. His first excavation was at Crown Point in 1956, after which he graduated from Hartwick College, the SUNY Museum Program at Cooperstown, and the Unversity of Pennsylvania from which he has a Ph.D. During the summers of 1962 and 1963 he excavated at Hell Gap, a Paleoindian site in Wyoming. From 1969 to 2010 he developed and directed the historical archaeological resource management and research program for the State Historic Sites maintained and operated by the State of New York. He wrote reports on this work and edited reports written by staff. He has co-authored one book. His projects have included identification and excavation of a part of the site of Dutch Fort Orange (1624-1676) in Albany, N.Y., excavations at other Dutch 17th- and 18th-century sites, and excavations at Crown Point State Historic Site (locations of French and then British colonial sites of the 18th century).
Patterson Schackne
At-Large Member, Secretary
Patterson Schackne obtained her MS degree in Environmental Studies from Bard College in 2005.
In 1998, Christopher Lindner, Ph.D. brought Patterson's Bard College Archaeology class to the West Athens Hill site to learn about it from Dr Robert E. Funk. Her Master's thesis, Paleoindian Settlement Systems in the Hudson Valley Lowlands, 7 years later, sought to redefine the Hudson Valley Paleoindian Period with a new chronology of Mid-Hudson Valley point types and sites through original research by James W. Bradley on point style seriation; this established that there was a longer duration of habitation than previously thought as well as a variety of traditions through the duration of the period. AMS dating and point type seriation clarified that the Paleoindian Period lasted 3,000 years in the Hudson Valley. Second, a clearer picture was obtained of the natural environment and lacustrine resources, using geological and other environmental data, helping to interpret site locations, site types, tool types and faunal and floral remains for an improved view of resources and resource exploitation.
Patterson occupies the At-Large member position on the board and is Board Secretary.