Biography

The late Barry Paul Michrina, Ph.D. was a professor of Anthropology at Colorado Mesa University (CMU), formerly Mesa State College, in Grand Junction, Colorado. Michrina instructed classes on Cultural Anthropology, North American Indians, Ethnographic Methods, Religion and Culture, Ethnopsychology, and World Cultures at CMU. Born May 28, 1947 in Johnstown (Cambria County), Pennsylvania, Michrina grew up in the coal-mining region of northern Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Francis College (St. Francis University 2001) located in Loretto, Pennsylvania in 1969, Michrina earned an M.S. in Chemistry from Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1971. He subsequently earned 2 doctorates; a Ph.D. in Agronomy at Pennsylvania State University at University Park in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton in 1991. Michrina was also Postdoctoral Scholar in Agronomy at Cornell University from 1981 to 1983.

Michrina’s professional and academic interests were focused on the peoples of Pennsylvania’s coal-mining regions (specifically Cambria County where he was born and raised) and the Southern Utes and Colorado. He authored several books, including, notably, Pennsylvania Mining Families: The Search for Dignity and the Coalfields (University of Kentucky Press, 1994) and Person to Person Fieldwork, Dialogue, and the Hermeneutic Method (State University of New York Press, 1996), written with CherylAnne Richards. His compassionate worldview endeared him to students, staff, and fellow faculty at CMU. An ardent, life-long fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, Michrina also enjoyed hiking and camping, writing poetry, country-swing dance, and his eclectic music collection. Michrina passed away unexpectedly, on April 16, 2012 in Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: