Ellis R. Kerley

607 Words3 Pages
Ellis Kerley was an pioneer in the field of Forensic Anthropology. His expertise was widely sought in identifying human remains, including those of the Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele and victims of the Jonestown suicides. He also was a contributor to the identification of the remains of repatriated American soldiers from Korean and Vietnam Wars. Kerley is know by many as the founding father of the science of Forensic Anthropology. He managed to take what was once considered a speculative field and transformed it into a highly respected and scientifically accepted field. Kerley served in the U.S. Army during World War IIand later worked for the Army and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. He earned his B.A. from the University of Kentucky and his masters and PhD from the University of Michigan. Kerley was employed during the 1950's with the U.S. Army American Graves Registration Service identifying the remains of deceased soldiers from World War II and the Korean War. In the 1960s Kerley developed the Kerley Method which is now used in Forensic Anthropology. The method examines thin cross sections of human remains, specifically long bones such as the femur and humerus and investigates areas of altered bone. As a human skeleton grows and matures during a lifetime, a condition similar to osteoporosis occurs naturally. Kerley's published work on the matter in 1965, was based on the study of 126 specimens. In all but 11 specimens, the Kerley Method identified the remains within a margin of plus or minus 4.6 years. The subjects studied by Kerley ranged in age from 5 to 95. This method was considered a standard in the field of Forensic Anthropology by the 1970’s for determining age. Kerley became the Forensic Anthropology Consultant and Scientific Director of the United States Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii in 1987. He there oversaw the
Open Document