Long-time UA Professor, Anthropologist Allen Maxwell Dies

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Allen R. Maxwell, professor emeritus of anthropology at The University of Alabama, died Nov. 16, 2011 at his home. He was 71.

Maxwell retired from The University of Alabama in 2010 after 36 years of service to the department of anthropology in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, but he continued to teach courses in linguistic and cultural anthropology as long as his health permitted.

Maxwell was recognized at UA for raising the national academic profile of the department of anthropology, beginning with a major revision of the anthropology curriculum when he joined the faculty in 1974.

Maxwell, known by his friends and colleagues as “Max,” was born in Hanover, N. H. and was raised in Massachusetts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in anthropol­ogy from the University of Michigan in 1969 and a year later completed a Master of Arts in linguistics from the same institution. He was awarded a doctorate from Yale in 1980.

During his years at The University of Alabama, Maxwell published more than 80 scholarly articles or book chapters and gave 68 major conference presentations. His work as an ethnographer and linguist centered on the peoples of Borneo, especially Brunei and Sarawak. A consummate ethnographic fieldworker, he enjoyed an international reputation for the depth of his understanding of Borneo’s many cultures.

As a teacher, Maxwell was known for his detailed and comprehensive approach to instruction. According to Dr. Michael Murphy, the chair of the department of anthropology, Maxwell’s enthusiasm for anthropology and linguistics endeared him to his colleagues and to generations of UA students.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Sunset Funeral Home of Tuscaloosa. A memorial gathering in his honor is being planned by the anthropology department.