Mrs. Debbie Kirk

Mrs. Debbie Kirk

A native of Greenville, Miss., Corbin earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. from Washington State University in 1975.
Corbin was an anthropology professor in the SFA Department of Sociology. He joined SFA in 1975 as an assistant professor after serving two years as an instructor and program director for the Austin Natural Science Center in Austin. He was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and to full professor seven years later. In 1999, Corbin was named a Regents Professor. He also served as director of the Stone Fort Museum on the SFA campus.
His professional memberships included the Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, Texas Archaeological Society and Southern Texas Archaeological Association. Corbin served as president of the Council of Texas Archaeologists from 1989 to 1990.
Corbin’s honors include recognition from the Texas Historical Commission (THC) as a recipient of its 1995 Award of Excellence in Archaeology and the 2000 and 2002 Award of Merit in Archaeology. He also was named a 1994 Fellow by the Texas Archaeological Society and received the organization’s President’s Merit Award in 2004.
A noted archaeologist in the Spanish Colonial, Caddoan, historic Texas and North American cultures, Corbin received numerous research grants, authored more than 30 publications with his students, and presented several archaeological presentations. His field experience included sites across Texas state parks and other historic locations.
Corbin died Nov. 26, 2004. He is survived by his wife Debbie and two stepsons, Jason and Steve.

Impact

The James “Jim” Corbin Scholarship will benefit students who major in archaeology or sociology with a minor in anthropology at the university. This scholarship is restricted to students in the archeology summer field school class, and recipients must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA.

Scholarships