Dennis H. O'Rourke

Dr. O'Rourke joined KU's Department of Anthropology in 2016 from the University of Utah. He served as Chair of KU's Department of Anthropology from 2019-2024. He is an Affiliate Distinguished Professor with the KU Center for Genomics and the KU Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. He also is a Courtesy Distinguished Professor with KU's Deptartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He is a American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and was the 2015 recipient of the Gabriel W. Lasker Service Award from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

Dr. O'Rourke's research focuses on the use of molecular genetic methods to address long-standing questions in prehistory. His students and collaborators have conducted fieldwork and research projects in Mexico, the Caribbean, the US Southwest and California and the North American arctic, including focusing attention on ancient DNA methods to investigate the colonization and dispersal of the North American arctic, and how this informs us about the earlier initial colonization of the Western Hemisphere. Using genomic analyses of both human and archaeofaunal and archaeobotanical materials, his research interests and efforts increasingly are at the intersection of anthropological genetics, bioarchaeology and paleoecology.

Learn more about Dennis O'Rourke on the Department of Anthropology website.