Robert N. Zeitlin

Robert Norman Zeitlin (born 1935) is an American professor emeritus of anthropology at Brandeis University. He has a B.A. in psychology from Cornell University, a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Boston University, an M.A. in anthropology from City University of New York, and a M.Phil. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Yale University.
Zeitlin is a specialist and well-regarded expert in the archaeology of Mexico and Central AmericaMesoamerica, in particular of the Zapotec and other cultures of pre-Columbian Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as well as on the political economies of ancient societies in general. Originally educated as an aeronautical engineer his interests turned to anthropology and archaeology after a stint as a naval officer and subsequent travel in Southeast Asia. He is married to Judith Francis Zeitlin, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. They have two children, Andrew Forrest Zeitlin, an Assistant Professor of Economics at Georgetown University, and Jeremy Edward Zeitlin, a graduate student in Creative Writing at Emerson College.