Career
He is one of only three forensic anthropologists in the state of Tennessee and seventy-four in the nation certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. Due to his areas of expertise and qualifications, his assistance has been sought by local, state, and federal authorities as well as private interests. The, one of North America"s oldest and most complete skeletal remains, dated between 8,340 to 9,200 years old, was discovered in 1996.
In 2006, after a long legal battle, a small team, including Hugh Berryman, was allowed to study the 90% intact skeletal remains.
In February 2009, at the request of Lewis family representatives, a scientific study into the death of Meriwether Lewis was initiated. James East. Starrs, Hugh Berryman, and Kevin Smith led the scientific study to determine if Lewis" death was the suicide historical records indicated or a homicide.
The National Park Service owns and manages the park where Lewis is buried in Hohenwald, Tennessee, and has refused to allow the body to be exhumed and examined. In 2011, investigating the theory that Lewis was murdered, The History Channel"s Brad Meltzer interviewed Hugh Berryman as a blunt force trauma expert.
Berryman discussed the difficulty of suicide as cause of death given the known historical details of the sustained wounds.
However, he could not make a definitive assessment without the remains. Berryman received his Master of Arts and Doctorate of Philosophy in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He served on the faculty of the Department of Pathology at The University of Tennessee, Memphis and as Director of the Regional Forensic Center in Memphis from 1980 to 2000.
He has provided lectures at the Smithsonian Institution, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy.
He was recently named to the Crime Scene/Death Investigation Scientific Area Committee’s (SAC’s) Anthropology Subcommittee within the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) He is currently a Research Professor in the department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Director of the Forensic Institute for Research and Education also housed at Middle Tennessee State University. Berryman has made significant academic contributions through his applied research in areas including blunt force trauma such as cranial gunshot wounds, archeology, and history.
