University Distinguished Teaching Professor Karl Kilinski II has died

Karl Kilinski II, University Distinguished Teaching Professor at SMU, died of natural causes on January 6, 2011. He was 64.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorials be made to The Karl Kilinski II Fund, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750281, Dallas, TX 75275-0281.

An archaeologist, art historian and perpetual traveler to exotic lands, Kilinski was born in New Orleans on April 24, 1946, to Karl and Virginia Oliver Kilinski. He received his Ph.D. in Classical Art History and Archaeology from the University of Missouri in 1974.

At Southern Methodist University, he was a University Distinguished Teaching Professor, teaching classical art, Greek myth and art, and Egyptian art. He was the recipient of numerous honors and awards in his field, including Outstanding Professor and Godbey Lecture Series Author Award.

As an archaeologist, Kilinski participated in both underwater and land excavations in Greece. He was a senior research fellow for the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece; director of Academic Programs in Greece, Japan and Cairo; board member of The Society for the Preservation of Greek Heritage; and a member of the Ambassador's Committee of Friends of Greece.

He was widely published in scholarly journals and the author of several books on the subjects of Greek vase painting and myth in art. His most recent work, Greek Myth in Western Art, has just been accepted for publication by Cambridge University Press. His other books include Classical Myth in Western Art: Ancient through Modern (Meadows Museum, Dallas, 1985);  Boeotian Black Figure Vase Painting of the Archaic Period (Philipp von Zabern Verlag, 1990);  Gods, Men, and Heroes, co-author (The University of Washington Press, 1996); Jupiter's Loves and His Children, co-editor (Georgia Museum of Art, 1997) and author of the introductory essay “Jupiter in Art Through Time”; The Flight of Icarus through Western Art (Edwin Mellen Press, 2002).

Kilinski’s educational tours focused on the Mediterranean, Turkey, Egypt and Africa. He had guest curatorships and was a symposium organizer for various museums, including the Kimbell Art Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, San Antonio Art Museum and the Meadows Museum of Art and the Archaeological Institute of America.

At SMU, he was on the Advisory Committee to International Programs, The Review Committees for Classical Studies Program and Medieval Studies Program and involved in the Master of Liberal Studies Program. He was the Chair of the Art History Division 1981-1987 and 1998-2001.

Survivors include his wife, Gunnie Corbett; brother, Robert Kilinski and Linda Cooke; niece, Anna Kilinski; nephews, Steve Kilinski, his wife, Jessica and their children, Roman and Connor; Kenneth Kilinski; cousin, Jinna Gutches, her husband Bill and their children, Shaun and Scott Calliham; Gunnie's family, Bradford Corbett, Jr., his wife Jennifer and their children, Ford and Turner Corbett; Pamela Corbett Murrin and her children, Carlotta and Stephen Olav Murrin; and Todd Corbett, his wife, Tessa.

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