Victor T. Mastone
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Vic is the Director and Chief Archaeologist of the Massachusetts Board
of Underwater Archaeological Resources, Office of Coastal Zone Management.
He joined the Board in 1987 as its first staff archaeologist. He also
served as Assistant Secretary for the Massachusetts Executive Office
of Environmental Affairs (1997, 1999-2004). Vic has been a Guest Investigator
and consultant with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He was
previously employed as a Research Associate with the Public Archaeology
Facility at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Prior to
being elected to the ACUA, he was a member of the SHA's UNESCO Committee.
He is Vice President and chairman of the North American Society for Oceanic
History's Preservation Committee. He served on both the U.S. Secretary
of Interior's National Maritime Heritage Grants Advisory Committee and
NOAA's Office of Exploration Peer Review Committee. He received his B.A.
in Anthropology and History (double major) from the University of Massachusetts
at Boston and his M.A. in Anthropology and his M.B.A. in Arts Administration
from the State University of New York at Binghamton. I guess I always wanted to
be an archaeologist. It wasn't a direct route. I tried do something
more practical like study engineering, but wasn't
too happy (or successful) at it. When I told my parents that I was quitting
engineering school and changing fields, they simply thought it was a
natural transition, given that I'd been digging up their yard since I
could walk, and I was always interested in history. Once I took my first
anthropology course, I knew this was what I wanted to do. As for underwater
archaeology, I had worked on coastal prehistoric sites and at a maritime
museum and I loved the sea. So when a paid position in archaeology came
up with the Board, I applied and, luckily, was selected. Even today,
I wonder if it was because I was the only archaeologist foolish enough
to apply. My 8th grade Social Studies teacher once asked about my future
aspirations, to which I replied, "I either want to teach history
or be a garbage collector." Who thought that as an archaeologist,
I can do both and have fun! Life rewards the prepared. Every time you think, you weaken the nation. |