 Handler joined the faculty at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1962, first as an instructor, and later as a tenured professor after he earned his PhD in anthropology from Brandeis University in 1965.Corruccini and Handler's first publication together on the Newton sugar plantation was based on a study of the slaves' dentition.This and subsequent research was funded by associations such as the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Southern Illinois University Office of Development and Research, and the National Geographic Society.