Robbie
Franklyn Ethridge has been the recipient of numerous awards and professional
recognition in her distinguished teaching career. But a recent accolade
bestowed on the Universityıs McMullan Assistant Professor of Southern
Studies and assistant professor of anthropology will always have a special
place in her heart.
Contrary to the Biblical admonition about prophets being without honor in their own land, Ethridge was chosen this past spring to receive the prestigious Robert C. Anderson Memorial Award, an acknowledgment bestowed on her by her own University of Georgia alma mater.
Given as a memorial to the former president of the University of Georgia Research Foundation, the award is presented annually to two recent University of Georgia graduates in recognition of "an outstanding record or research accomplishment carried out as part of a candidateıs graduate studies and during the period immediately following receipt of the terminal degree." Candidates must first be nominated by a dean, director, department head, or graduate coordinator, and then be chosen by a selection committee appointed by the Universityıs Vice President for Research.
The Macon, Georgia, native is the first social scientist and anthropologist to receive the award, which included a $1,000 honorarium presented to her at an awards banquet held last April in Athens, Georgia.
"I'm extremely honored," said Ethridge. "I was honored to be nominated for the award and certainly to receive it. It's a ringing stamp of approval for what you do. It makes you feel like what you're doing is worthwhile." The Ole Miss professor, who holds a joint appointment in Southern Studies and anthropology at the University of Mississippi, wrote "The Indians of Georgia: A Social History" for her master's thesis and, for her doctoral disseration, "A Contest for Land: The Creek Indians on the Southern Frontier, 1796-1816." Her areas of academic specialization include historical anthropology, Southeastern Indians, environmental history, environmental anthropology, and cultural anthropology.
Among her many previous honors and accomplishments, Ethridge was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1977 and again in 1978, when she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia. She completed her masterıs degree there in 1981 and her Ph.D. in 1996, graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average in both programs.
Michael Harrelson