Faculty

Donald Whitcomb was a pioneering scholar in the field of Islamic archaeology, who investigated its history through numerous excavations across the Middle East while also training generations of University of Chicago students in archaeological fieldwork.

A member of the University of Chicago community for more than four decades, he was also a trusted mentor who created master’s and doctoral programs in Islamic archaeology at UChicago. Whitcomb, PhD’79, a research associate at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) and associate professor at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC), died on Feb. 8 in Chicago at age 79.

Eclipses have fascinated people since the earliest days of recorded history.

These rare astronomical events have helped explain the world around us—from ancient Mesopotamia to medieval Islamic tradition all the way to the 20th century, when they helped prove Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Such interest hasn’t dimmed. People across the United States will have an opportunity on April 8th to see a total solar eclipse—the last opportunity for the contiguous U.S. until 2044. UChicago faculty, students and alumni are among the hordes of enthusiasts traveling across the country toward the area of “totality,” the 70-mile-wide stripe stretching from Texas to Maine in which the moon will fully block the sun.