President of Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research (Ships of Discovery)
Ph.D. (1987)
The Molasses Reef Wreck
“For me it all started in 1975 when George Bass needed a NAUI instructor to teach Turkish
university students how to dive for the newly-formed Institute of Nautical Archaeology’s first
project at Şeytan Deresi, Turkey. One of the students I certified, Cemal Pulak, later became a
professor in NAP. I Joined INA’s first project in the USA at Yorktown, VA in 1976 and entered
the Department of Geology at TAMU in 1977 as PhD candidate specializing in Nautical
Archaeology and subsequently participated in or led more than two dozen INA projects
between 1976 and 1986 in the US, Turkey, Bahamas, Jamaica, South Korea, Turks & Caicos
Islands, Mexico, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Italy, and Panama, resulting in
more than 50 articles and presentations. In 1980, after being asked to conduct a survey of
what became known as the Molasses Reef Wreck in the Turks & Caicos Islands, I directed its
excavation, conservation and analysis, and made it the subject of my dissertation in 1987. In
order to insure the safety of the collection, I helped create the Turks & Caicos National Museum
in 1990 and continue to support it to this day.
The NAP at Texas A&M offered many opportunities that would not have been accessible to me
in other venues. But it was not the Program itself as much as the cadre of fellow students,
instructors, and international community of underwater archaeologists that I remember most
fondly.”
- Bodrum, Turkey, 1975. Preparing the barge for the Şeytan Deresi excavation. L to R: Cemal Pulak, Sina Mandalinci, Cengiz Celep, Tufan Turanli, Robin Piercy, unknown. Photo by Donald Keith.
- Texas A&M, 1977. Richard Steffy leading a class in ship reconstruction. Photo by Donald Keith.
- Exuma Islands, Bahamas 1986. INA Ships of Exploration and Discovery Team: L-R: Denise Lakey, Pilar Luna, Jack Hunter, Ric Hajovsky, Donald Keith, Capt. John Rothchild, Roger Smith, KC Smith, Joe Simmons. Photo by Lou Roth.
- Lipari, Italy, 1977. Donald Keith aboard the Sub Sea Oil Services saturation training vessel NM Corsair during excavation of a third-century BCE Hellenistic shipwreck. Photo by Don Frey.
