"Memo"
Hershiser

2002: Life's been very good to me these twenty years. I've spent six of the last ten years conducting social, economic, and political field-research in both the Middle East and Central Asia -- at times exciting, at times frustrating, but always interesting.

In terms of my professional life, highpoints would include: a B.A. in cultural anthropology from Oberlin College in '86; an M.A. in social anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in '92; a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in '98; and, along the way, two Fulbright-Hays Research Fellowships and a Fulbright-Hays Teaching Fellowship.

Apart from teaching and research, I've also had the opportunity to work with multidisciplinary teams on issues of regional peace and stability in Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus, as well as poverty and development in Turkey for the World Bank.

Most recently, I've been teaching anthropology at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey -- where I was recently selected as Teacher of the Year for 2000-2001.

In terms of my personal life, I married Jennifer Grocer (Brown '93) in 1997, and, as Jennifer is a linguistic anthropologist, we've had the opportunity to collaborate on various projects, including, most recently, an extended field-study in Azerbaijan, and Turkey.

Other than that, after some fourteen years of daily training, I'm now a 5th degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. Other accomplishment in the martial arts would include being hired on to head up the Karate program at Texas from '94-'99, having several of my players advance to the medal rounds of regional and state championships, and supervising my wife Jennifer's 1st degree black belt test.