Norma Kershaw earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, with Phi Beta Kappa honors, in 1972 from Queens College, New York.  And in 1974, she achieved a Masters of Arts in Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University.  She then went on to teach at Hofstra University and the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University.

However, her interest clearly predated her education, as she was a founding officer of the AIA’s Long Island Society in 1968, and served as its president from 1977 to 1981.   In 1992, she was elected to the national board of the Archaeological Institute of America where she served in various roles and received its Distinguished Service Award.  In 1996 she was named Trustee Emeritus of the AIA.   And, of course, as stated earlier, she founded our Orange County Society 25 years ago in 1991.  

Her involvement in archaeological organizations is not limited to the AIA.  She has been either a trustee or involved in leadership roles in many other groups including ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research), ARCE (American Research Center, Egypt), AIAR (Albright Institute of Archaeological Research), CAARI (Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute), and the Bowers Museum.  She continues to support archaeological education through the endowment of two chairs, one at UC San Diego and one at UCLA.  These are but a few of her avenues of support.

In the field, Norma has excavated in Israel and on Cyprus.  She has curated several exhibitions related to archaeology and has even been a guest lecturer at the United Nations. 

Norma continues to be a driving force in the vitality of this organization, and we are thankful for her input and direction.