Biography
Trenton “Trent” Holliday is Professor of Anthropology and has been on the Tulane faculty since 1998. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey at the University of the Witwatersrand in the Republic of South Africa. Trent served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology for two three-year terms. Prior to that, he served as the department’s Graduate Studies Coordinator. In University Service, he has served on the School of Liberal Arts Promotion and Tenure Committee, the School of Liberal Arts Grievance Committee, the Newcomb-Tulane Honor Board, the Newcomb-Tulane Committee on Honors, and the Executive Committees of both the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Professional Advancement. In recent years he has served on both the School of Liberal Arts Dean Search Committee and the Library Dean Search Committee, acting as Chair of the latter. In years past he served on the University-wide Responsible Conduct in Research Committee, the Provost’s Unified Code of Graduate Student Academic Conduct Committee, the Provost’s Liberal Arts Task Force, the University Senate, and the Health Professions Committee.
Trent earned his BA from Louisiana State University and his MA and PhD from the University of New Mexico. He is a paleoanthropologist who specializes in the study of hominin fossils primarily from Europe and Africa. He has also conducted archaeological fieldwork in France and Portugal. Holliday is the author or co-author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, 20 chapters in peer-reviewed edited volumes, and numerous reviews and encyclopedia entries. In 2023, his book Cro-Magnon: The Story of the Last Ice Age People of Europe was published by Columbia University Press.
In 2002 Trent received the Tulane University Graduate and Professional Student Association’s Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship Award. Holliday believes in rewarding faculty for their work both in and out of the classroom and is eager to hear from SLA faculty what they currently find to be the most challenging parts of their jobs.
Professor Holliday is serving as School of Liberal Arts Interim Dean of Faculty Affairs from July 1 through December 31, 2024, in place of Associate Dean Holly Flora.