Service to ACOR: Trustee (1988–2006); Trustee Emerita (2006–2024)
Nancy L. Lapp was an American archaeologist and biblical scholar who worked on a number of sites in Jordan and Palestine alongside her husband, Paul Lapp. She served as a trustee on ACOR’s board from 1988 until 2006 and thereafter was a trustee emerita until her passing on March 3, 2025.
In her early career, she served as secretary and then research assistant to Dr. William F. Albright at Johns Hopkins University (1955 to 1957). During this time, she met Paul, and together they participated in the Drew-McCormick Archaeological Expedition to Shchem. After this, Paul was appointed director of the American School of Oriental Research (ASOR) in Jerusalem (today the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research). During his directorship (1960–1965), Nancy was heavily involved with keeping the institute running smoothly, as well as with assisting with the numerous excavations Paul initiated during this time, all while raising their five children. After Paul stepped down as director, the Lapps continued to live and work from ASOR, and Paul began work at the Early Bronze Age site of Bab edh-Dhra. This project later expanded into the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain project (EDSP), excavations that she continued to assist on from 1970 through their final season in 1990. Paul died in a tragic swimming accident in 1970 with nearly all of his excavations unpublished, and thus Nancy resolved to publish them herself, an endeavor that today has largely been completed. A collection of the Lapps’ photography of Jordan and the Middle East is available in the ACOR Digital Archive. Nancy Lapp became curator of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology in 1970 and, in 2000, its curator emerita, continuing to receive funding from various grants and fellowships for her ongoing publication work. She earned a BA from the University of Cincinnati and MA from McCormick Theological Seminary.
Nancy donated a large collection of photographs to the ACOR Digital Archive. Please read “Images From a Lifetime Dedicated to Archaeology: The Paul and Nancy Lapp Collection” and visit the ACOR Digital Archive to browse the collection.
