Ken Seligson
President and Membership Coordinator, AIA-LA Society
Affiliation: California State University, Dominguez Hills, Department of Anthropology
https://kenseligson.wordpress.com/
Research Interests: human-environment relationships in the Northern Maya Lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Email me: kseligson@csudh.edu
Charlie Steinmetz
Vice President AIA-LA Society
Charles W. Steinmetz is a real estate investor and President of the Steinmetz Foundation that makes grants to literacy and curiosity building educational non-profits in Southern California.
Email me: charlie.steinmetz@gmail.com
Aaron A. Burke
Board Member and Past President, AIA-LA Society
Affiliation: UCLA, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (https://nelc.ucla.edu/person/aaron-burke/ – https://ucla.academia.edu/AaronBurke)
Research interests: Warfare, migration, environmental change, and social change in the ancient Near East during the Bronze and Iron Ages
Email me: aaburke@ucla.edu
Paul Scotton
Board Member AIA – LA Society and past president.
Affiliation: California State University, Long Beach. Program in Classics.
Research Interests: Paul is Co-Director of the Lechaion Harbor and Settlement Land Project in the Corinthia, Greece. He has been active in the excavation of multiple sites in Greece for over thirty years.
Lechaion Harbor and Settlement Land Project
Email me: Paul.Scotton@csulb.edu
Alba Mazza
Assistant Secretary, AIA-LA Society
Affiliation: Partnerships and Innovations Directorate, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Henry M. Jackson Foundation (CTR)
Alba Mazza is an underwater archaeologist with more than 18 years of fieldwork experience in the Mediterranean. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, Australia (2017). Her research focuses on submerged settlements and human-environment interaction in the coastal zone. Her work also focuses on prehistoric seafaring and navigation during the Classical Antiquity in Sicily – Italy. Alba Mazza was recognized as the AIA McCann/Taggart Lecturer for 2021/2022 . https://dpaa.academia.edu/AlbaMazza
Email me: alba.mazza@gmail.com
Spotlight Interview!
Dawn Cox
Public Education Liaison AIA – LA Sociey
Eighth grade U.S History teacher in the Los Angeles area.
Dawn currently works at Lynwood Middle School. She received her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Management in 2013 from Alliant International University. A love for history and archaeology led to her studying abroad in Florence, Italy. In 2003 she was awarded a teaching fellowship through the conservation group Earthwatch.
Email me: dmichelle1976@yahoo.com
John Cameron
Treasurer AIA – LA Sociey
John earned a master’s degree in business administration from USC in 1971 and then a certified public accountant (CPA) license five years later. John is best known as the genial treasurer of AIA-LA who helps keep our programs running smoothly.
Luis Rodriguez-Perez
Graduate Student Liaison, AIA – LA Society
Affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles
Luis was born in Cuba and moved to Miami at a young age. He earned a BA in archaeology and history, with a minor in Classics, at the University of Southern California. He has participated in several excavation and survey projects in Italy and Greece, including at Pompeii, Vergina, and the Cyclades. He has also done ethnographic investigations on the Colombian islands of Old Providence and Ketlina.
Email me: lrodriguezperez@g.ucla.edu
Maria Carolina Zensen
Undergraduate Student Liaison, AIA – LA Society
Affiliation: University of Southern California
Maria Carol is a sophomore at USC majoring in archaeology. She also serves as the undergraduate student liaison for AIA-LA. It was easy for her to pick up this AIA role in September from Lauren Malkoun because they were friends at USC. Even though she is from Brazil, Maria Carol has adjusted to life in Southern California fairly quickly. This adaptability naturally grew from her many travels to Europe from Rio de Janeiro when growing up. She even lived in Italy as an exchange student during 2019 and became fluent in Italian.
Caroline Smith
Membership Coordinator, AIA – LA Society
Owen Doonan
Ex Officio Member, Past President. Professor of Art History, CSUN AIA – LA Societyh
Prof. Doonan received his B.A. (1986) and M.A. (1989) degrees in Classics and Classical Archaeology at Tufts University, and his Ph.D. in Old World Archaeology from Brown University (1993). Professor Doonan began his teaching career in the Archaeology Department of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey (1992-1995). Since 2003, he has taught ancient Art History and Archaeology at California State University Northridge.
Professor Doonan has served as President and Vice President of the L.A. County Society of the AIA, chairs the AIA’s Eastern Europe and Eurasia Interest Group, was recognized as the AIA’s G.M.A. Hanfmann Lecturer (2016-2017), and serves on the AIA Fellowships Committee. An active field archaeologist, he has also excavated in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Israel. Author of more than 50 books and articles, Professor Doonan has been awarded grants from the NEH, National Geographic Society, the Getty Foundation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung for his research. He is particularly interested in public outreach and proactive engagement with the Turkish-American community in North America and with our host community of Sinop, Turkey.
Email me: owen.doonan@csun.edu
