Washington, DC — Dr. Roy Sieber, the first scholar in the United States to receive a Ph.D in African art history, died early Friday morning in Bloomington, Indiana where he was a Professor Emeritus at Indiana University's Hope School of Fine Arts. He was 78.

Sieber earned his doctorate at the University of Iowa in 1957. He came to Indiana University in 1962 where he was one of the original scholars associated with the start-up of that university's now-reknowned African studies program. His research into the art of Ghana and Nigeria is considered classic in the field of African art history.

Considering Dr. Sieber's life, John H. Hanson, director of the University of Indiana's African Studies Program, credited Sieber's work as key to "charting the origins of African art history." And in addition to a large body of scholarly writings, says Hanson, Sieber also educated a cadre of students who went on to become directors of African art museums and African art programs around the country. One of those students was Roslyn Adele Walker, now director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art

"Whether as a museum professional, channeling scholarly concerns through the medium of African art exhibitions, or as an IU professor lovingly guiding countless students through the learning process," says Hanson, "Roy Sieber shaped much of what is today known and understood about African art in all of its forms."