312 FAMED FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST WILLIAM BASS VISITS MTSU MARCH 27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919, or via e-mail at lrollins@mtsu.edu

Bass Will Kickoff Free Public Lectureship in His Honor, Help Announce New Forensic Institute

(MURFREESBORO)–Dr. William M. Bass, an internationally recognized expert in the field of forensic anthropology who has gained prominence through his research facility, the UT Body Farm, will deliver a free and open guest lecture at 7 p.m. March 27 in the State Farm Room of MTSU’s Business Aerospace Building.
The upcoming visit by Bass will mark the formal kickoff for the Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE), which is led by Dr. Hugh Berryman, and serve as the inaugural talk in the university’s newly established William M. Bass Legends in Forensic Science Lectureship.
A professor of sociology and anthropology, Berryman is the director of FIRE, which was approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents during fall 2006.
In addition to serving as the debut speaker for the lectureship named in his honor, Bass will serve as a member of FIRE’s external board of advisers, a panel that also includes Richard L. Lambert and My Harrison, FBI agents in charge of Tennessee; Tennessee State Medical Examiner Bruce Levy; Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; Nick Fielder of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security teach; odontologist Michael Tabor; Mike Bottoms, a district attorney general; and Harry Sommers, a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency who oversee Tennessee and northern Georgia.
Regarding Bass’s involvement in the MTSU-led forensics emphasis, Berryman said, “We are honored to have William Bass not only be our inaugural speaker, but also serve as a member of our external board for the institute.”
Aside from its external board, the institute also has a 14-member internal board of directors composed of MTSU faculty and administrators.
According to its mission, the institute, using an interdisciplinary approach, will focus on training and continuing education for law enforcement and forensic specialists, bringing a forensic focus to campus education, as well as working to obtain external funding for research.
By using an interdisciplinary approach, including the utilization of experts from MTSU’s biology, chemistry and anthropology programs, among others, Berryman said his goal is for FIRE to form cooperatives directed toward a number of different initiatives such as a Forensic Science Initiative, Homeland Security Initiative, Education Initiative, Child Abuse Initiative and a Gangs and Hate Crimes Initiative, among others.
“In all of these areas, FIRE will initiate and cultivate partnering with industry, forensic laboratories, and local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Additionally, Berryman observed, “The Forensic Anthropology Search and Recovery Team is a service arm of FIRE … (and) this 10-person, volunteer, student team is experienced in processing forensic crime scenes involving skeletal remains.”
Under Berryman’s direction, this team of both undergraduate and graduate students assists law enforcement in skeletal crime scene location, documentation and recovery. To date, the team has participated in helping to process at least two crime scenes in Rutherford and Robertson counties, respectively, and received requests from law enforcement to take part in other investigations.
Volunteering their weekend time and weekday evenings, the student team members “do a great job and I’m really proud of them,” noted Berryman, who continues to do skeletal identifications for the state. “This is great experience for the students and they are, in a sense, like ambassadors for MTSU. … They let people know we have talent here.”
Berryman said the William M. Bass Legends in Forensic Science Lectureship will be held once each spring and fall semester and feature prominent experts from within the forensics field. Each lecture will be open to the public and free of charge, Berryman said.
Regarding this year’s speaker, Bass—along with his co-author Jon Jefferson—has also become a successful fiction writer. His Body Farm has been featured in fiction and nonfiction books as well as on television programs such as “The Dead Zone” and “CSI.”
Honored as National Professor of the Year in 1985-86 by The Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Bass received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia, his master’s degree from the University of Kentucky and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
• For more information regarding the March 27 lecture, please contact Connie Huddleston in the College of Liberal Arts at MTSU at 615-494-7628.


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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request a jpeg of William M. Bass III for editorial us, or to request an interview with Dr. Hugh Berryman, director of FIRE, please e-mail your request to Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at MTSU at lrollins@mtsu.