By John van Willigen
[ant101@uky.edu]
SfAA Oral History Project, Chair
University of Kentucky

Charles Loomis

Interview by J. Thomas May and Peter K. New.

Charles P. Loomis was one of the small group that founded  the Society for Applied Anthropology in 1941. Trained as a sociologist he was awarded the Ph.D. from Harvard  in 1933. Loomis served as the president of  SfAA, 1949-1950, at other times he was president of the Rural Sociological Association and the American Sociological Association. His research program was focused on rural life, agriculture and resettlement and had a distinct applied focus. He was very much involved in policy research for the United States Department of Agriculture during the early 1940s. Toward the end of World War II  he was appointed chair of Michigan State University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He was one of a number of sociologists that were important to the early development of the SfAA.

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By John van Willigen
[ant101@uky.edu]
SfAA Oral History Project, Chair
University of Kentucky

John van Willigen

Interview by J. Thomas May and Peter K. New

This transcript is of an interview with Frederick L.W. Richardson done by Tom May and Peter New in 1979. Frederick Richardson participated in the founding of the Society and served in various leadership roles including being president. He became an important figure in the anthropology of industry and business. His graduate studies in anthropology included a 1941 Ph.D. under the direction of Eliot D. Chapple. Chapple was a founder of the Society and its first president. During World War II Richardson worked in a number of federal agencies. He followed this with academic appointments at the Harvard School of Public Health and the business colleges of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia. He collaborated in research at various times with Elton Mayo, Eliot D. Chapple, Conrad Arensburg and W. Lloyd Warner and did consulting with a number of large business corporations. His accomplishments in applied anthropology were recognized with the 1988 Bronislaw Malinowski Award, shortly before his death. The interview was edited by Prof. Richardson initially. His annotations are in parentheses. John van Willigen also edited the transcript; his editorial comments are in brackets. The transcript, in this abridged version, starts with discussion of applied anthropology and the society.

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By John van Willigen
[ant101@uky.edu]
SfAA Oral History Project, Chair
University of Kentucky

John van Willigen

Gilbert Kushner played an important leadership role in the development of the applied anthropology pedagogy nationally. The foundation for his accomplishment was serving as department chair in the period when the University of South Florida’s precedent setting graduate programs were developed. He was very active in the affairs of the Society and served as its secretary. Gilbert Kushner died in 2010. His contributions in these realms were recognized in 2005 with the Society’s Sol Tax Distinguished Service Award. His friends, colleagues and students honored his memory and contributions with the establishment and funding of SfAA’s Gilbert Kushner Student Travel Award.

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John van Willigen
[ant101@uky.edu]
SfAA Oral History Project Chair
University of Kentucky

John van Willigen

At the 2011 annual meeting of the SfAA in Seattle, the Washington Association for Professional Anthropologists organized a panel as an observation of the 30th anniversary of the Praxis Award. Since the first award in 1981, WAPA has recognized outstanding achievement in translating anthropological knowledge into action. Further information about WAPA and the Praxis Award can be found at the WAPA web site. This interview taps the knowledge and viewpoints of Robert M. Wulff who originally designed the award and was one of the principals in achieving its promise. He served as president of WAPA in 1980 – 1981. Wulff received his PhD in anthropology from University of California, Los Angeles in urban anthropology in which he focused on planning and housing. He uses his training in anthropology as a senior vice president at the B. F. Saul Company real estate management and investment firm, head-quartered in Washington, D. C. The interview and editing for accuracy and continuity were done by John van Willigen. The transcript and audio recording are archived in the SfAA collection at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries.

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