Bob Brier
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Bob Brier at the Giza Pyramid complex, Egypt |
Robert Brier, Ph.D (born
December 13,
1943), also affectionately known as
Mr. Mummy, is a world-renowned
American Egyptologist specializing in
paleopathology. A Senior Research Fellow at the C.W. Post Campus of
Long Island University, he is considered by many to be the world's foremost expert on
mummies and the mummification process.
Born and raised in
The Bronx,
New York, Dr. Brier earned his bachelor's degree from Hunter College of the
City University of New York. From 1966 to 1970, he was on the research staff of the Institute of Parapsychology (formerly the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man), in Durham, North Carolina. He earned his Ph.D in philosophy from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970, and began teaching at
Long Island University in 1972. He served as chairman of the philosophy department from 1981 to 1996, and has also served as the director of the
National Endowment for the Humanities' "Egyptology Today" program. He was appointed Senior Research Fellow at C.W. Post Campus in 2004.
Dr. Brier has conducted pioneering research in mummification practices worldwide. He has investigated well-known mummies such as
Tutankhamen,
Ramses the Great,
Vladimir Lenin,
Eva Perón (more commonly known as
Evita), and the
Medici family.
In 1994, Dr. Brier and a colleague, Ronald Wade, director of the State Anatomy Board of Maryland, became the first people in 2,000 years to mummify a human cadaver using ancient Egyptian techniques. This research earned Dr. Brier the affectionate nickname "Mr. Mummy" and was also the subject of the
National Geographic television special of the same name. He is also the host of several television specials for the
TLC Network including
The Great Egyptians,
Pyramids,
Mummies and Tombs, and
Mummy Detective. His research has been featured in
Archaeology Magazine,
The New York Times,
CNN,
60 Minutes and
20/20.
In 1999, Dr. Brier gave a series of 48 specially-prepared lectures entitled "The History of Ancient Egypt" for
The Teaching Company, a corporation which provides recorded lectures given by the top 1% of America's college professors. Dr. Brier is a recipient of Long Island University's David Newton award for Teaching Excellence and has twice been selected as a
Fulbright Scholar.
From
March 24 to
April 8 2006 Brier, along with art historian
Patricia Remler, lead a group of participants on a tour of the
oases of Western Egypt. This tour coincided with the
March 29th solar eclipse.
In addition to his pioneering research, Dr. Brier has also written several scholarly articles and books, including:
*"Precognition and the philosophy of science: An essay on backward causation" (
1974) ISBN 0391003259
*"The Glory of Ancient Egypt: A Collection of Rare Engravings from the Napoleonic Expedition" (
1990) ISBN 0811544699
*"Egyptomania" (June,
1992) ISBN 0933699263
*"Egyptian Mummies : Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art" (
March 14,
1996) ISBN 0688146244
*"The Encyclopedia of Mummies" (September,
1998) ISBN 0816039062
*"The Murder of Tutankhamen" (
March 1,
1999) ISBN 0425166899
*"The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians" (with
Hoyt Hobbs) (
December 30,
1999) ISBN 0313303134
*
C.W. Post Campus Faculty: Bob Brier*
The Learning Company: Prof. Bob Brier*
IMDB Biography: Bob Brier*
Oases of Egypt Archaeological Tour*
"But Is It ESP?" by Bob Brier, 1973*
University of Vermont, Fleming Museum: "Egyptologist Presents Case for King Tutankhamen's Murder" (October 4, 2005)
