Dr. Robert Marquess Carmack graduated from UCLA in 1965 after earning a BA in Zoology, an MA in Physiology, and a PhD in Anthropology. His dissertation focused on the cultural history of the prehispanic K'iche (Quiche´) Maya of the Guatemalan highlands.

His ensuing academic career as a cultural anthropologist included one year as a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA, two years as an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University (1965-1966), three years as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego (1967-1970), and thirty-two years as a Full Professor at the State University of New York, Albany, where he retired in 2002.

These thirty-eight years of academic service included many trips to conduct field research in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

In the course of his notable academic career, he published 35 scholarly books, 70 articles and book chapters, and 31 book reviews and prefaces. He also presented his published research at 131 conferences, advised at least 73 doctoral dissertations as committee chair, led 16 field schools, and organized many conferences, both at the University at Albany and in Central America. In addition, he received numerous fellowships and grants. He was esteemed by his colleagues and widely loved by graduate students and associates in both the US and Central America.

Robert was predeceased by his mother Gladys Bushman Carmack, his father Cecil Eugene Carmack, a younger brother, an older brother, and his former wife Adele Kanaga Avery.

He is survived by his wife Teresa Carranza Carmack, an older brother and an older sister, his six children, and by his twenty-five grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren.

Services were held October 28, 2023.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Robert's memory to any worthy charity or philanthropic cause.