EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter refers to Daily Planet Editor John North’s May 21 column headlined “Actor’s appointment to archaeologists’ board undeserved,” criticizing the election of Harrison Ford (aka “Indiana Jones”) to the board of the Archaeological Institute of America.
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I wanted to thank you for mentioning the Archaeological Institute of America in your column, and to clarify the structure of our Governing Board.

We have three categories of trustees: General (non-academic), Academic, and Society (representing our 105 local chapters in North America).

This administrative structure has been in place for nearly 100 years, and there are fixed numbers of trustees in each category.
Mr. Ford was elected as a General Trustee, and so has not taken the place of an academic. He has been extremely supportive of archaeological fieldwork, site conservation, and archaeology programs for children.

If you would like to learn more about our organization, the URL is http://www.archaeological.org/

With best wishes,

C. BRIAN ROSE
James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology

University of Pennsylvania
Curator-in-Charge, Mediterranean Section
University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
President, Archaeological Institute of America
Philadelphia, Penn.