Amy L. Rector, Ph.D., M.Ed.
Dr. Amy L. Rector, Ph.D., is the associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Humanities and Sciences. She is responsible for all aspects of faculty affairs (promotion and tenure, professional development, faculty leave, summer camps, etc.) across all academic units in the College of Humanities and Sciences. A former director of the School of World Studies, Rector also serves as a tenured professor in anthropology.
In her research, Dr. Rector explores the ancient environments and paleoecology of our evolutionary ancestors. She is the director of the paleoanthropological Ledi-Geraru Research Project in the Afar Region, Ethiopia, and co-director of the Zambia Rift Valley Research Project in South Luangwa, Zambia. She has published and presented her work in high impact journals and international conferences. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Earthwatch Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the American Philosophical Society. In 2025 and 2026, Dr. Rector and her team announced and published the discovery of a new species of human ancestor from Ethiopia that had previously been undescribed.
Dr. Rector received her Ph.D. with the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University and her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership right here at VCU.