Prof. David Lordkipanidze is the first Director General of the Georgian National Museum (GNM). He oversees transformation-renovation process of the GNM from a Soviet-style institution into a vibrant space for culture, education and science. Under his leadership 6 Museums united under the GNM umbrella have been already renovated and opened its doors to the public offering modern, top-level exhibitions.
Professor Lordkipanidze had led the discovery of the earliest known hominid remains outside of Africa at Dmanisi in the republic of Georgia. This work thrust Georgia in to modern paleoanthropology and has transformed our comprehension of the biogeography of early hominids, revolutionizing understanding of their morphology, population, environment, culture, and dispersal. Prof. Lordkipanidze has authored more than 120 scientific articles published in widely respected and well-known scientific journals such as Nature, Science Magazine, Proceedings of US National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Human Evolution and more.
David Lordkipanidze was a visiting Professor at Harvard University and serves as a professor of European program Erasmus Mundus. He often is a guest speaker and the scholar in residence in foreign Universities and institutions. He also serves both as member and as chair of science committees for the exhibition concepts in the world’s leading museums. He is regularly featured in popular scientific magazines such as National Geographic Magazine, GEO, Scientific American, etc. and in TV-shows and documentaries such as National Geographic Channel, BBC, Nova, Discovery Channel, etc.
In 2004 David Lordkipanidze received the Rolex Award for Enterprise. He was also given the National Decorations of Georgia (2001, 2011), Award of the Prince of Monaco (2001), the French decorations Palmes Académiques (2002) and L`Ordre du Mérite (2006), a Fulbright Scholarship (2002), the Georgian National Prize for Science and Technology (2004), Award of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei “Fabio Frassetto” (2008). Since 2007 David Lordkipanidze is a foreign associate member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), corresponding member of German archaeological institute (2008), member of Georgian National Academy of Sciences (2009), member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2010), Member of the Academy of Europe ((Academia Europaea), 2011), Humboldt Prize (the Humboldt Research Award) by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2014) not a full list.
He is a member of scientific committees of the Georgian National Science Foundation and the Foundation Duques de Soria (Spain) as well as a member of the European Cultural Parliament.
He served as associate editor of the journals: European Prehistory (Belgium), Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia (Russia), Journal of Human Evolution (USA), L`Anthropologie (Paris).