Dr. Archaeologist was a pioneer in the decipherment of the Maya Hieroglyphic Writing and an extraordinary professor of Maya and Mesoamerican Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a very influential and passionate professor that mentored her students to excellence and inspired them to discover and interpret the diverse aspects of the Mesoamerican World with a critical approach. Many of them are today among the leaders in the field of Mesoamerican Studies. Mentored by Merle Greene Robertson, Schele worked with Peter Mathews and Floyd Lounsbury to decipher a major section of the list of Palenque kings, presenting her work in the 1973 conference Mesa Redonda de Palenque, organized by Robertson. Her work stimulated several later discoveries, by herself and others. Schele became a Fellow in pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. in 1975. She focused on the study of word ordering in Mayan inscriptions for the next two years there. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions, which, following her wishes, are free for use to scholars. In 1977, she founded the annual Maya Meetings at the University of Texas at Austin, which became one of the most important forums in the world for the study of Mesoamerican cultures and the Maya hieroglyphic writing.

Dr. Linda Schele was a pioneer in the decipherment of the Maya Hieroglyphic Writing and an extraordinary professor of Maya and Mesoamerican Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a very influential and passionate professor that mentored her students to excellence and inspired them to discover and interpret the diverse aspects of the Mesoamerican World with a critical approach. Many of them are today among the leaders in the field of Mesoamerican Studies. Mentored by Merle Greene Robertson, Schele worked with Peter Mathews and Floyd Lounsbury to decipher a major section of the list of Palenque kings, presenting her work in the 1973 conference Mesa Redonda de Palenque, organized by Robertson. Her work stimulated several later discoveries, by herself and others. Schele became a Fellow in pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. in 1975. She focused on the study of word ordering in Mayan inscriptions for the next two years there. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions, which, following her wishes, are free for use to scholars. In 1977, she founded the annual Maya Meetings at the University of Texas at Austin, which became one of the most important forums in the world for the study of Mesoamerican cultures and the Maya hieroglyphic writing.

Dr. Michael D. Coe is Charles J. McCurdy Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, Yale University. His research interests focus on the pre-Spanish civilizations of Mesoamerica, especially the Olmec and Maya; and on the Khmer civilization of Cambodia. He has also conducted archaeological excavations on forts of the French and Indian War in Massachusetts.  Among his 20 published books are Mexico (1962, with 4 subsequent editions, two co-authored with Rex Koontz); The Maya (1966, with 7 subsequent editions); The Maya Scribe and His World (1973); Lords of the Underworld (1978); In the Land of the Olmec (1980, with Richard A. Diehl); Breaking the Maya Code (1992); The True History of Chocolate (1996, with Sophie D. Coe); The Art of the Maya Scribe (1997, with Justin Kerr); Reading the Maya Glyphs (2001, with Mark Van Stone); Angkor and the Khmer Civilization (2003); Final Report: An Archaeologist Excavates His Past (2006); The Line of Forts, Historical Archaeology on the Frontier of Massachusetts (2006). His newest book is Royal Cities of the Ancient Maya, (2012, with photographer Barry Brukoff). He has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1986. He has been given the Tatiana Proskouriakoff Award by Harvard University (1989); the James D. Burke Prize in Fine Arts, Saint Louis Art Museum (2001); the Order of the Quetzal, Government of Guatemala (2004); the Orden del Pop, Museo Popol Vuh (2006); and the Linda Schele Award, University of Texas (2008). On April 13, 2013 he will be presented the Tlamatini Award by the Art History Society in conjunction with the Department of Art History at CSULA.