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Department of Anthropology
Forensic Anthropology Center

Mission

The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS) mission is to advance forensic science and anthropology through world-class education, research, service, and outreach. FACTS strives to be a premier nationally and internationally recognized academic training and research facility for forensic anthropology. FACTS provides a unique environment that stimulates innovative, creative, and interdisciplinary research that advances forensic anthropological knowledge, theory, and methods.

FACTS goals include:

  1. Maintaining the highest level of integrity, ethics, and safety in the performance of its mission;
  2. Provide the highest quality education and training for students and professional scientists in forensic anthropology;
  3. Provide training and certification for the medicolegal and law enforcement communities;
  4. Assist national and international scholars from numerous forensic science disciplines in conducting quality scientific research that will benefit the medicolegal and anthropology communities;
  5. Facilitate interdisciplinary (e.g., forensic anthropology, archaeology, odontology, botany, entomology, biology, chemistry, and others) research and study, including providing state of the art facilities and collections for research, that advances forensic anthropology and other forensic sciences;
  6. Disseminate research in forensic anthropology through peer-reviewed conference proceedings and professional journals;
  7. Provide technical and scientific expertise and services to law enforcement, the medicolegal community and the general public;
  8. Build local, national, and international partnerships with law enforcement agencies, laboratories, and research institutes to advance knowledge in forensic anthropology and other forensic sciences that deal with skeletal and decomposing bodies.

Donate to Support Our Mission

If you would like to support the mission and goals of the FACTS, please make a check payable to “FACTS” and send to Forensic Anthropology Center, Texas State University, Department of Anthropology, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666 or give online. Please specify “Forensic Anthropology.” For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions. If you are interested in becoming a body donator, please click on the “Donation” page.