Ben Thomas is Executive Director of the Society of Architectural Historians, prior to which he was Director of Programs for the Archaeological Institute of America for 18 years and, concurrently, an Assistant and later Associate Professor in Liberal Arts at Berklee College of Music. He was introduced to archaeology and anthropology at Brandeis University (B.A.) and received his graduate degrees in archaeology from Boston University (M.A. and Ph.D.) after several years of fieldwork in the jungles and swamps of Belize and Guatemala. Ben’s specialty is Maya archaeology with specific interests in Ancient Maya settlements and architecture. He has travelled extensively throughout Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. As the Director of Programs for the AIA, Ben was responsible for the Institute’s outreach and education activities including International Archaeology Day, ArchaeoCon, the national lecture program, the site preservation program, all grants and fellowships, and the 105 local societies. At Berklee, where he taught for 18 years, he introduced students to Mesoamerican art and archaeology and some of the great archaeological discoveries that have been made in the last 300 years. Since 2017, Ben has led both the AIA’s Yucatán tour and this very tour in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras to excellent reviews.
Assistant Professor in Liberal Arts at Berklee College of Music
