William Maples was born on August 7, 1937 in Dallas, Texas and died on February 27, 1997. Maples was a renowned forensic anthropologist at the University of Florida. He was known for his work in forensic human identification and trauma analysis. He earned his Masters Degree in 1962, and his Ph.D. in 1967 in Anthropology from the University of Texas.
In 1968, Maples became an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida, and continued on to become a Full Professor and Curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Maple's knowledge in forensic anthropology also lead him to the New York State Police Forensic Sciences Unit, a consultant to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, and a consultant to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The opening of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida in 1986, was another accomplishment of William Maples. This laboratory is considered to be one of the top forensic laboratories in the country.
Throughout Maples career, he assisted in the identification of human remains in over 1000 cases, including some very high-profile forensic cases. High-profile cases included identifying the human remains of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, Czar Nicholas II, and Joesph Merrick "The Elephant Man".
http://www.aaanet.org/an/ob9705.htm
http://www.napa.ufl.edu/oldnews/maples.htm, Karen Meisenheimer, 1997
Edited by Marcy L. Voelker, 2007