In 1995, the Board of Directors of the Society for California Archaeology (SCA) established the James A. Bennyhoff Memorial Fund to recognize the enormous scholarly contribution Dr. Bennyhoff made to the study of California and Great Basin prehistory and ethnohistory.

Beginning in 1995 the SCA invited undergraduate and graduate student members to submit research proposals to be considered for financial support by the Bennyhoff Memorial Fund. As specified on the SCA’s web site, the award is intended to support original research on the prehistory and ethnohistory of California and the Great Basin consistent with the scholarly interests of Dr. Bennyhoff.

Geochemical Research Laboratory (GRL) has been a major supporter of the SCA’s Bennyhoff Memorial Award since its inception. Since 1996 GRL has contributed gratis obsidian source analysis to numerous Bennyhoff Award student recipients, amounting to thousands of dollars of in-kind services donation to the SCA’s Bennyhoff Memorial Fund.

Undergraduate and graduate student SCA members with interests in California and Great Basin prehistory and ethnohistory can go to the SCA’s web site to obtain details about applying for research funding from the Bennyhoff Memorial Fund.