About Kathy

Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Her other Temperance Brennan novels include Death du Jour, Deadly Décisions, Fatal Voyage, Grave Secrets, Bare Bones, Monday Mourning, Cross Bones, Break No Bones, Bones to Ashes, Devil Bones, and 206 Bones, Spider Bones (August, 2010). Dr. Reichs is a producer of the hit Fox TV series, Bones, which is based on her work and her novels.

From teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, as a forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her mesmerizing forensic thrillers. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina, and continues to do so for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec. Dr. Reichs has travelled to Rwanda to testify at the UN Tribunal on Genocide, and helped exhume a mass grave in Guatemala. As part of her work at JPAC (Formerly CILHI) she aided in the identification of war dead from World War II, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Reichs also assisted with identifying remains found at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Dr. Reichs is one of only eighty-two forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte, NC and Montreal, Québec.

Credentials

Dr. Kathy Reichs received her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from American University, in Washington, DC (1971). She went on to Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where she earned a Masters in Physical Anthropology (1972) and a PhD in Physical Anthropology (1975). The American Board of Forensic Anthropology certified Dr. Reichs as a Diplomate (D.A.B.F.A) in 1986.

Dr. Reichs began her teaching career as an Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, IL in 1974. During that time she also taught courses at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, IL. In 1981, Dr. Reichs began teaching as an Assistant Professor at Davidson, College in Davidson, NC. During that time she was also a lecturer of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, where she became an Assistant Professor in 1987. Dr. Reichs became an Associate Professor in 1988 and a full Professor in 1996. Dr. Reichs has also served as a Visiting Professor for the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea program, and at Concordia University and McGill University in Montreal, Québec.

Dr. Reichs has taught symposia for medical and dental students at the North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, NC and for residents in pathology at the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale in Montreal, Québec. She has been an Instructor for field courses in the recovery of human remains at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA and for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa, Canada.

Dr. Reichs has served as a forensic anthropology consultant to the Medical Examiner’s Office of Mecklenburg County in Charlotte, NC and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. She is currently a consultant to the Ministere de la Securite publique at the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale, in Montreal, Québec.

From 1997-1999, Dr. Reichs served as a consultant to the Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Center’s Central Identification Laboratory in Oahu, Hawaii (renamed J.P.A.C.). Dr. Reichs also served as a consultant to the United Nations Tribunal on Genocide in Rwanda in 1999. Dr. Reichs served as a forensic anthropologist for the National Disaster Medical System, and, in October of 2001, worked on a D-MORT Team to identify victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.

Dr. Reichs has published numerous professional works. She is Editor of three academic books: Hominid Origins: Inquiries Past and Present (1983), Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains (1986), and Forensic Osteology II: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains (1998). Additionally, she has contributed chapters to numerous other professional books in the field of forensic anthropology. Dr. Reichs has published articles in professional publications such as Central Issues in Anthropology, Journal of Forensic Sciences, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences, Surete, American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Forensic Science International, and Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Dr. Reichs also contributed the Foreword to several other professional works, including a series of science books for children.

Dr. Reichs has extensive professional speaking experience. She has presented academic papers to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, American Anthropological Association, Chicago Archaeological Society, International Association of Identifiers, Paleopathology Association, and many others.

Dr. Reichs has lectured or given workshops for the Smithsonian, the International Symposium on Forensic Science, the American College of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Midwest Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, and at numerous other academic conferences and universities. She has spoken abroad at the Ontario Coroner’s Association in Canada, the International Symposium on Forensic Science in Bari, Italy, the Symposium on Forensic Anthropology in Perth, Australia, the Symposium on Legal Medicine in Milan, Italy. Dr. Reichs also was the Keynote Speaker at the Quebec Association of Hematologists and Oncologists in Québec City.

She has spoken at the White House, Smithsonian Institute, National Association of Women Judges, American College of Trial Attorneys, Mecklenburg Medical Association, Mecklenburg County Bar Association, Canadian Bar Association, Québec Teacher’s Association, Montreal Science Museum, Charlotte Nature Museum, International Association of Science Journalists, International Association of Foreign Correspondents, Cape Fear Crime Festival, Southern Voice Literary Festival, and North Carolina Bar Association.

Dr. Reichs served on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and the American Academy of Forensics Sciences. She has held the position of Vice President for both organizations. She is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council (RCMP) in Canada.

Getting Involved

I support the following charities and non-profit organizations:

Know My Bones Campaign
Spokesperson for the Know My Bones Campaign for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Helping a Hero
Helping a Hero is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to veterans severely injured while fighting with the United States armed forces.

Caribbean Primate Research Center
The Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) is a world renowned center for the study of non-human primates.

Hmong Students in Laos
Supporting Laotian students pursuing careers in education by providing scholarships and logistical support.