Sylvia Wright Gaines, 92, died September 18, 2020. An anthropologist, she received her doctorate at ASU. She joined the faculty in 1972 and taught in the Dept. of Anthropology in the School of Human Evolutions and Social Change. She retired as Professor Emeritus.  



As a Southwest Archaeologist, her research focused on developing computer applications, particularly in simulations of small societies. She pioneered real-time use of computers in field situations in 1970.



Sylvia served on the Executive Board, Society for American Archaeology, 1983–1985 and as program chair for the annual meeting in 1988. In 2002, she was awarded the Distinguished Mentor of Women Award by the ASU Faculty Women's Association. A festschrift was published for her in 2006 titled Managing Archaeological Data: Essays in Honor of Sylvia Wright Gaines (Anthropological Research Paper No. 57, ASU).

Sylvia was preceded in death by her husband, Warren Malcolm Gaines, and a son. She is survived by two children, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. (Source: Arizona Republic)