Diana Chapman Kamilli

1941 - 2023

Diana Chapman Kamilli, Scientist and Educator, Dies at 81.

Known for her contributions to archaeological geology and education, Diana Chapman Kamilli died on August 2nd in Tucson, Arizona, after a short illness.

After a decade as a professor of geology at Rutgers, Vassar, CCNY, and Wellesley, she joined the department of anthropology at Harvard and the history of science department at MIT where she brought her geologic skills to bear on important archaeological studies of early Mesopotamia and other areas in the Middle East. Her most important contribution was the discovery that Ubayd ceramics, which had been previously thought to have been traded from city to city at the early date of ca. 3500 BCE, were actually produced by itinerant potters who brought their techniques from the Fertile Crescent. She worked on Arabian Peninsula geology and pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the American Southwest while her husband was with the U.S. Geological Survey in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and then Tucson.

An outstanding teacher according to both her former students and her children, she shared her love of the natural world with all comers. At a children's party one Halloween, she saw an opportunity for a teachable moment during apple-bobbing and gave a basic, child-oriented lecture about relative density. She inspired many of her students, including her eventual husband, to consider graduate school and a career in geology.

Diana Chapman Kamilli was born in Manhattan on September 5, 1941. She was the daughter of Daniel Knowlton Chapman, a partner in Frances I. Dupont, a brokerage firm, and Carroll Howard Ferguson. She made her debut in 1959, the same year she graduated from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. In 1963, she graduated magna cum laude from Vassar with a BA degree in geology and received her master's degree and PhD also in geology from Rutgers. The following year she married Robert Joseph Kamilli. She is survived by their daughter, Ann Chapman Kamilli and son, Robert Chapman Kamilli. Diana is also survived by her daughter-in-law, Corinna Busiglio Kamilli; grandson, Theodore Chapman Kamilli, and her nephew, Daniel K. Chapman III. Her brother, Daniel K. Chapman II, pre-deceased her.

In accordance with her love of education, donations may be made in Diana's name to Imago Dei Middle School, PO Box 3056, Tucson AZ 85702. Imago Dei is a free, private school exclusively serving children from low-income families and invested in breaking the cycle of poverty through education.

A memorial service will be held at St. Philips in the Hills Episcopal Church in Tucson at 9:30 AM on Friday, October 20, 2023. A reception will follow from 11:45 AM to 2:00 PM at the church.