Curriculum Vitae

born July 23, 1961 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Citizenship: USA and German

Languages: English, German, French, basic spoken Arabic

Conard earned bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and chemistry at the University of Rochester in 1983. In 1986 he was awarded an interdisciplinary master’s degree in physics, geology and anthropology in Rochester. His research focused on the initial applications of AMS radiocarbon dating and studies of 36Cl and Be10 in glacial ice. Following studies in Freiburg and Cologne, Conard earned master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology at Yale University in 1988 and 1990, where he wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the archaeology of Neanderthals.

Conard worked as an assistant professor in anthropology at the University of Connecticut from 1991-1993. From 1993-1995 he worked as a Humboldt research fellow at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz/Neuwied. In 1995 he was appointed Chair of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology at the University of Tübingen. He is director of the Urgeschichtliches Museum in Blaubeuren and the Archäopark Vogelherd in Niederstotzingen. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Geosciences 1998-2000 and as a vice dean of the faculty from 2004-2006. He served as a visiting professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town in 2006 and at Peking University in 2012. Since 2006 he has served as an elected senator in the University Senate. He founded and directed the University of Tübingen’s course of study in paleoanthropology from 2000 - 2010. In 2008, he was elected founding Director of the Institute for Archaeological Sciences at the University of Tübingen. In 2009 he co-founded the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment of the University of Tübingen.

Conard’s main areas of research include: Paleolithic archaeology; lithic, taphonomic, faunal and spatial analysis of archaeological sites; Pleistocene chronostratigraphy; evolution and dispersal of modern humans; environmental reconstruction and settlement history of western Eurasia and Africa, as well as the origins of agriculture and sedentism.

He has directed numerous excavations and survey projects in Germany, South Africa, Syria and Iran. His excavations have documented important Lower, Middle, Upper, Epipaleolithic, and Neolithic sites, as well as early examples of figurative art and musical instruments. Results of these excavations have featured prominently in major exhibits around the world. He served as the scientific coordinator of the 2009 state exhibit of Baden-Württemberg on Cultures of Ice Age. Since 2008 he co-directs the long-term project of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences: The role of culture in the early expansion of humans,

In addition to editing important publications series in Tübingen, he serves as editor or on the editorial board of publications including: Archäologie in Deutschland (since 1996), Paléo Revue d’Archéologie Préhistorique (since 1999). Prehistoria (since 2000); Archaeometry (since 2001); Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt (since 2002-2104); Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology (since 2003); Germania (2006-2014); Journal of Human Evolution (2006-2008); Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (Chief Editor since 2009); L’Anthropologie (since 2010).

Conard has served on many scientific committees including: Executive Committee, Union Internationale des Sciences Pré- et Protohistoriques (since 1995); Administrative Board of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (since 1997-2014); Archäologische Kommission Baden-Württemberg (since 2000); Member of the board of evaluators for the National Geoparks of Germany (2002-2007); INQUA Commission on Human Evolution and Paleoecology (2003-2008); Associate of the Centre for the Evolutionary Analysis of Cultural Behavior, London (2003-2006); Member of the Römisch-Germanische-Kommission (since 2004); Curatorial Board of the Prinz-Maximilian zu Wied-Stiftung (2004-2009); Board of Directors, West- und Süddeutscher Verband für Altertumsforschung (2005-2009); Member of the Schöningen Commission appointed by the Wissenschaftsministerium in Niedersachsen (since 2007); Executive Board of the Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie, Schleswig, since 2009; Advisory Board for Prehistory and Human Evolution, UNESCO World Heritage sites (since 2009). Conard was awarded the Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg in 2010 and was elected to the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften in 2011.

• Scientific Director, Eiszeit-, Forschungs- und Vermittlungsstudio Hohle Fels. since 2021.
• Director, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment. 10/2017-present.
• Speaker, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften project The Role of Culture in the Early Expansion of Humans. 4/2017-present.
• Dean of Studies, Archaeological Sciences. 4/2016 – present.
• Short-term Visiting Professor, Department of Archaeology, Peking University. 9/2012 & 12/2017.
• Director of the Archäopark Vogelherd since 2011
• Elected member of the Fakultätsrat, Mathematische Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, University of Tübingen. 4/2011-present.
• Senior Professor of the Tübingen/Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment. 10/2009-present.
• Founding Director of the Insitut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, University of Tübingen. 1/2008- present.
• Elected Member of the Structural Committee of the University of Tübingen 1/2007-9/08
• Elected Member of the Senate of the University of Tübingen, 10/2006-present.
• Visiting Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, 2/2005 -3/05.
• Vice Dean of the Faculty of Geoscience, Universität Tübingen, 10/2004-9/06.
• Director of the course of study in paleoanthropology, 10/2000- 9/2009.
• Dean of the Faculty of Geoscience, Universität Tübingen, 10/1998-9/2000.
• Keeper of Schloss Hohentübingen, Universität Tübingen, 6/1998-9/2006.
• Scientific Director of early prehistoric exhibits in Museum Schloss Hohentübingen, 6/97-present.
• Scientific Director of the Urgeschichtliches Museum in Blaubeuren, 8/95-present.
• Editor: Tübinger Monographien zur Urgeschichte, Archaeologica Venatoria, Urgeschichtliche Materialhefte, 1995-present. Museumshefte, Urgeschichtlichen Museum Blaubeuren, 2001-present, Tübingen Publications in Prehistory, 2001-present. Tübinger Arbeiten zur Urgeschichte, 2002- present. Tübingen Publications on the Archaeology of Southwestern Asia, 2006-present.
• Chair of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Institut für Ur-und Frühgeschichte, Universität Tübingen, 8/95-present. Diverse research, teaching and administrative duties.
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Forschungsbereich Altsteinzeit Museum Monrepos, Neuwied, Germany, 6/93-6/95. Archaeological and paleoenvironmental research.
• Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 1/91-5/93.
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Giza Plateau Mapping Project, 10/90-1/91. Analysis of archaeological materials from the 1988-1989 excavations at Giza.
• Researcher in Geochemistry, Department of Geology, Yale University, 6/90-12/90. Study of atmospheric circulation with 10Be and 36Cl and authentication of artworks with 210Pb.
• Mellon West European Dissertation Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 1/90- 5/90.
• Teaching Fellow, Department of Anthropology Yale University, 1/88-5/88 and 9/89-12/89.
• German Academic Exchange Research Fellow, Museum Monrepos, Neuwied, Germany, 5/88-8/89. Director of excavations at Tönchesberg.
• Curatorial Assistant in Anthropology, Peabody Museum Yale University, 9/86-5/88. Curation of Irving Rouse's archaeological collections from the Caribbean and Harold Conklin's ethnographic collections from the Philippines.
• Editor of Archaeology, Yale Graduate Journal of Anthropology, 9/87-5/88.
• Researcher in Nuclear Physics, University of Rochester, 9/82-5/86. Accelerator mass spectrometry, production and transport of radioisotopes and applications of measurements of radioisotopes in archaeology.
• Translator from German, Macmillan Publishing Company, 11/85-3/86. Karl Narr's "Prehistoric Religion".
• German Language Teaching Faculty, University of Rochester, 9/84-12/84. Part-time instructor of German language and literature.
• Technician in Biophysical Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Rochester, 9/79-5/81. Assistant for DNA-drug binding experiments.
• Field Archaeologist and Instructor. Dayton Museum of Natural History. Summers 1976-1984.