2015
Patricia D. Beaver

Dr. Pat Beaver received the award to recognize her impressive contribution to the study of Appalachia and mountain regions around the world. Beaver worked as an anthropologist in mountain communities from Western North Carolina to China and Wales, researching the influences of gender, class and ethnicity on social structure. Beaver directed the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University for two decades, until her retirement in 2013.