Nancy Sullivan (activist)
Nancy Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 16, 1957 Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | July 16, 2015 (aged 57) LaGrange, New York, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Children | 9 (all adopted) |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (2007) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Anthropology |
| Sub-discipline | Papua New Guinean studies |
| Institutions | Divine Word University |
Nancy Lynn Sullivan (September 16, 1957 – July 16, 2015) was an American anthropologist and activist. Born and raised in the Northeast United States, she moved to Papua New Guinea after doing research there as a New York University doctoral student. She ran an anthropology consulting company in Madang Province and advocated for Papua New Guinean environmental issues and tribal people. She also researched Karawari cave art and advocated for its preservation, and in 2007 received a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field.
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Nancy Lynn Sullivan was born on September 16, 1957, in Orange, New Jersey,[1][2] Her father worked as a Wall Street executive.[3] She was raised in Scarsdale, New York,[3] where she graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1975.[4] He obtained her BA from Princeton University in 1980 and her MFA from Hunter College in 1984.[2] She originally worked as a freelance storyboard artist in the film and television industries.[1][2]
Sullivan obtained her PhD in anthropology from New York University.[1] As a doctoral student, she went to Papua New Guinea on a Fulbright grant to do research on the country's film and television industries.[1] She subsequently became interested in the country and moved to Madang Province.[1][5]
Career
[edit]Sullivan ran an anthropology consulting company in her native Madang Province.[5] She also researched Karawari cave art and advocated for its preservation;[3] in 2007,[6] she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the art.[2] She also received grants from both the National Geographic Society and Rockefeller Foundation.[3]
Sullivan worked at Divine Word University as a Papua New Guinean studies lecturer from 2002 to 2004,[2] and she was editor of Governance Challenges for PNG and the Pacific Islands, published though Divine Word University Press in 2004.[7] She also worked as a tour guide for travel agency Asia Transpacific Journey.[8]
Sullivan was an activist for Papua New Guinean environmental issues and tribal people, opposing both overdevelopment and the logging and mining industries' presence in the country's environment.[3] She opposed Chinese plans for the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone near Madang due to concerns about its impact on the area's fish;[1] the zone was still built, and the PNG government sued her and ten other anti-PMIZ activists as retribution, though she did succeed in advocating for compensation from PMIZ for local landowners, particularly in environmental issues.[9]
Personal life and death
[edit]She had nine children, all adopted from PNG villages.[3] She once flew her first-born child to have surgery to fix an eye injured in an archery incident.[1] According to Associated Press journalist Chris Carola: during her time in PNG, Sullivan "explored crocodile-infested rivers [and] endured numerous bouts of malaria."[3] Her brother Jeffrey recalled of Nancy: "We always joked about it: Scarsdale girl ends up at end of the earth, in the jungle".[3].
On July 16, 2015, while driving on the Taconic State Parkway with her three grandchildren and their nanny en route to the family's summer home at Lake Champlain, Sullivan was killed when her SUV crashed into an embankment in LaGrange, New York.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Hulette, Fran (February 3, 2016). "Lives: Nancy Sullivan '80". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Reports of the President and the Treasurer. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 2008. p. 144.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Carola, Chris (July 25, 2015). "Anthropologist killed in crash left NY for jungle adventures". Associated Press. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ Wallenstein, Joanne (July 22, 2015). "Remembering Nancy Sullivan and Carmino Ravosa". Scarsdale 10583. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ a b "Nancy Sullivan, noted activist for Papua New Guinea, dies in New York car crash". The Guardian. Associated Press. July 22, 2015. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ "Nancy Sullivan". Guggenheim Fellowships. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ "Governance challenges for PNG and the Pacific Islands / edited by Nancy Sullivan". National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on May 2, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ Tasker, Georgia (February 27, 2005). "Expert's insights can make trip a truly educational experience". The Miami Herald. p. 9B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "PNG activists dedicate win to anthropologist Nancy Sullivan". Radio New Zealand. July 23, 2015. Archived from the original on November 30, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- 1957 births
- 2015 deaths
- American women anthropologists
- 20th-century American anthropologists
- 21st-century American anthropologists
- 20th-century American women academics
- 21st-century American women academics
- American environmentalists
- American women environmentalists
- American expatriates in Papua New Guinea
- American expatriate academics
- American book editors
- American women editors
- People from Scarsdale, New York
- People from Orange, New Jersey
- Activists from New York (state)
- Academics from New York (state)
- Activists from New Jersey
- Academics from New Jersey
- People from Madang Province
- Scarsdale High School alumni
- Princeton University alumni
- Hunter College alumni
- New York University alumni
- Academic staff of Divine Word University
- Road incident deaths in New York (state)