Our Speaker

Dr Chip McGimsey

State Archaeologist

LA Division of Archaeology

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Chip grew up in northwest Arkansas and began his archaeological career in that state.  In the late 70s he moved to Illinois and worked across the state for 17 years.  Along the way he picked up his graduate degree from Southern Illinois University.  Following graduation in 1995, he came to Louisiana as the Southwest Regional Archaeologist for the state, based at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  For the next 12 years, he explored many sites in the southwestern part of the state, but also wandered a bit and worked on some sites in other parts of the state as well.  In 2007, he took the State Archaeologist position and has been there ever since.