Olga Stavrakis

An anthropologist specializing in the development of culture and complex societies and the modern transition from poverty to prosperity. During the course of a long and varied career, she has excavated ancient jungle cities, mapped prehistoric agricultural fields; and lived in remote villages in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America while working on economic development projects for the United Nations, USAID, and the World Bank. Dr. Stavrakis received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Minnesota and holds degrees in archaeology, history, and geology from the Universities of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Originally from Ukraine, she has traveled extensively and, since her retirement in 2003, has been sharing her excitement and fascination of the variety of human cultural experience with others. She is especially interested in the establishment of Kievan Rus, which eventually evolved into Russia, and the rise of the medieval Baltic trading cities that constituted the Hanseatic League.

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