Academic Metals Directory · entry

Val J. Link

Professor and head of the jewelry/metalsmithing program, University of Houston (founded/led the program from ~1970; deceased 2019 — emeritus by the time of death)

last checked 2026-05-29

As archived (≈2014)

Listed as
University of Houston — since 1970

Born
1940, Shreveport, Louisiana

Now (checked 2026)

Goes by
Val J. Link

Current role
Professor and head of the jewelry/metalsmithing program, University of Houston (founded/led the program from ~1970; deceased 2019 — emeritus by the time of death)

Status
Deceased

Link
www.millerfuneral.com/obituaries/Val-James-Link?obId=5403215

Training

Undergraduate	University of Texas - Austin · 1963 to 1965 BFA · instructor: Michael Lacktman
Undergraduate	Del Mar Junior College · 1960 to 1963 BS · instructor: Charlotte Watson
Graduate	Cranbrook Academy of Artart & design college · 1965 to 1967 MFA · instructor: Richard Thomas

Lineage

Taught at

Birmingham City University — School of Jewellery · 1970 to presentUniversity of Houston · 1970 to present

Students drawn from who lists this person as an instructor; institutions from faculty records. See the full lineage timeline →

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Sources

https://www.millerfuneral.com/obituaries/Val-James-Link?obId=5403215 https://www.ganoksin.com/article/metalsmith-92-winter-exhibition-reviews/https://web.archive.org/web/2014/http://www.temple.edu/crafts/metalsdirectorypage/p101.html

From the original Tyler “Academic Metals Directory” (≈2014), brought current in 2026.

Structured facts come from acmet.db. The bio is pulled live from GitHub (Val-J-Link) so it stays editable. If GitHub can't be reached, a built-in copy shows.