Donna Tang
“I consider Tucson and southern Arizona—its people, its history, its culture—as Home, even though I was born and raised in Connecticut. I came to Arizona for the first time in 1965 to work with the architect Paolo Soleri, and I realized that this was the place I really belonged. I moved to Tucson permanently in 1970.
“My first contact with the Center [Archaeology Southwest] was as an archaeology student at Pima College, when I responded to a call for volunteers to help with a survey of the Cienega Valley under the direction of Michelle Stevens, who was a doctoral student at the time. That experience was so stimulating and enjoyable that I’ve been supporting the organization in every way I can since then. Their activities have moved beyond digs and surveys, and I have definitely been pleased with the changes I have seen because they all involve a dramatic deepening and expansion of the organization’s fundamental mission—a mission in which I firmly believe.
“As a board member, I’d like to see the Center [Archaeology Southwest] become much more visible and distinct as a force for cultural preservation in this part of the world. That will involve continuing their impressive activity in publications and public events, and taking on even more projects that involve cultural heritage preservation. I am very committed to preserving voices, stories, and places of the Southwest that are not often heard and are in danger of fading away. Of course, this means that the board will have to work hard to increase membership and ensure the financial health of the organization so that these activities can continue.”
Dr. Tang joined the Board of Archaeology Southwest (formerly the Center for Desert Archaeology) in 2009. She holds a doctorate in Comparative Cultural and Literary Studies with a focus on Latin America and indigenous cultures of the Americas. Tang retired from Pima Community College in 2006 as a faculty member in Social Sciences and Humanities.
