UW Anthropology Building named for the founder of the department

The University of Wyoming’s Anthropology Building now bears the name of George Frison, a Worland native and UW graduate who achieved international acclaim as an archaeologist during a long and distinguished career as a UW faculty member.

On Jan. 14, UW’s Board of Trustees voted to name the building in Frison’s honor, at the request of UW’s Department of Anthropology, the university’s Naming Committee chaired by Provost Kevin Carman, and President Ed Seidel.

According to Chad Baldwin with the UW Department of Institutional Communications, the George C. Frison Building, is a 53,000-square-foot facility built in 2007 The building houses the Department of Anthropology, the State Archaeologist’s Office, the cultural records section of the State Historic Preservation Office, the Frison Institute, the State Archaeological Repository and the Anthropology Museum. UW officials and trustees felt that after all he had accomplished, Frison’s was the perfect name for the building.

Frison, who founded the UW Department of Anthropology, was the first Wyoming State Archaeologist. Frison died Sept. 6, 2020, at the age of 95.