Dr. Diana Avery Amsden, Ph.D., is from a northern New Mexico family of bankers, anthropologists, and archaeologists. Her background spans an extraordinary multi-disciplinary path across anthropology, archaeology, architecture, and art history. As she frequently jokes, “It appears that I didn’t get as far as ‘astronomy’ in the course catalog.”
Roots and Academic Triumphs
She began her academic trajectory early, entering college at just 15 years old and graduating from the University of New Mexico at 19 with highest honors. She ultimately accumulated a wall of six degrees, including an advanced degree from Harvard University. Her groundbreaking Ph.D. dissertation achieved notable academic recognition by forensically exposing a structural data fraud that had launched an entire anthropological sub-discipline—her point-by-point analysis demonstrated that the database used was entirely irrelevant while relevant data was excluded, proving every premise false and every argument a fallacy. Her spatial and structural genius was equally undeniable; upon taking the ETS formal Architectural Aptitude examination, she scored higher than 99% of 18,921 international candidates, placing her firmly in the top 1% of all test-takers.
Fieldwork, Infrastructure, and the Appalachian Trail
Descended from a long line of scholars, she spent years participating in digs across most major Southwestern archaeological cultures. Her technical expertise eventually expanded globally when, as a Research Anthropologist for Falcon R&D (Whittaker Corp.), she authored a comprehensive infrastructure, education, housing, and medical master plan for the Shah of Iran—though she notes, “unfortunately, what Iranians considered a finder’s fee, Uncle Sam considered a bribe.”
Demonstrating immense personal grit and independence during this era, she also hiked 300 miles completely alone along the rugged Appalachian Trail. When asked if she felt vulnerable, she remarked with her characteristic wit: “No, I wasn’t afraid. Criminal types do not go in for hiking, and hiking types don’t go in for crime; they rarely even litter.”
National Politics and Foundations
In the 1970s, she emerged as a foundational force in national political history. Following her time organizing an Objectivist discussion group at the University of New Mexico, she helped establish the New Mexico Libertarian Party, serving as its first State Chairman and President. At the inaugural Libertarian Party National Convention, to her alarm, she was nominated from the floor for the Vice Presidency of the United States. Instinctively shrinking from the prospect of public office, she asked the delegates to choose the alternative candidate, but she went on to serve as the party’s very first National Secretary and an active member of its executive committee. She also qualified for membership in the prestigious International Society for Philosophical Inquiry.
Hollywood Script Analysis and Adobe Design
Her creative intelligence carried her into the entertainment industry throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. Her roles included reading scripts for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures and working at the Jack Scagnetti Agency, exposing her to a vast world of Hollywood writing. She subsequently anchored her talent at Universal Studios, performing critical script and technical research for the hit television series Quincy, M.E.—a role she remembers as “the best job I ever had; bright, competent, warm people who cared about scientific accuracy.”
Following her time in the studio system, she turned her structural passion toward designing and building four custom adobe houses in northern New Mexico. True to her artistic nature, she reflects that “design is a passion; I lose all sense of time.” To survive during leaner professional eras when hiring managers found her over-educated resume deeply threatening, she adjusted her credentials to enter the workforce as a temporary “Kelly and Manpower girl,” deeply appreciating the sheer variety of roles the agency provided.
A Lifetime of Literary Work
Dr. Amsden has published numerous scholarly articles, edited academic books, spoken at major Romance Writers’ conferences, and written biographies for hire. She is an accomplished poet and short-story writer, with several pieces featured in the San Diego Writers’ and Editors’ Guild anthology, The Guilded Pen.
Now in her nineties and a great-grandmother living in Southern California, she is actively preparing an extensive catalog of fiction and historical research for publication, including:
- The Stained-Glass Woman – Her blockbuster multigenerational family saga that touches on the Old Order Amish, Ayn Rand, family abuse, Harvard, medical malpractice, money, sociopaths, and twins reared apart.
- The Virtual James Mason – A fantasy romance based on the legend of the Flying Dutchman.
- The Wagon Train Master – A western epic answering what would have enabled the Donner Party to survive.
- Ask and Ye Shall Receive – A comedy in which God and the Devil are female.
- The Cat Who Looked Like Jean Harlow – A science fiction comedy.
- Jakob Ammann’s Shadow – An intensive study of Amish history and mindset.
- Cataclysm – A futuristic tale of survival.
- Two Plus Two – A psychological suspense story.