Dr. Shirley Powell is currently the Vice President of Programs at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, and her master’s and Ph.D. from Arizona State University—all in anthropology. Between 1978 and 1987 she served as principal investigator and director of the Black Mesa Archaeological Project—one of the largest and longest-running archaeological projects conducted in the United States. She was also a professor in the department of anthropology at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, and a resident scholar at the School of American Research, Santa Fe. She has held positions as principal investigator, director, consultant, or coordinator for several archaeological firms and projects. She has authored, coauthored, or edited numerous books, technical reports, chapters in technical reports, and book reviews and has presented at 30 regional and national professional meetings.

In the public service arena, she has served as the development and administration manager for the Montezuma Land Conservancy in Montezuma County, Colorado, and has been both mayor and a planning and zoning commission board member for the town of Dolores, Colorado.