Clellan Stearns Ford (27 July 1909 – 4 November 1972) was an American anthropologist, best known as Professor of Anthropology at Yale University, and as co-author of the 1951 book Patterns of Sexual Behavior.
Clellan S. Ford | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 July 1909 |
| Died | 4 November 1972 (aged 63) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Known for | Professor of Anthropology at Yale University; co-author of Patterns of Sexual Behavior (1951) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology |
Biography
editClellan Ford was born on July 27, 1909, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was educated at Yale University, where he received the Ph.D. in chemistry in 1931, and a Ph.D. in sociology in 1935.[1] In 1935, Ford spent a year in the Fiji Islands conducting ethnographic field research.[1] The following year, he joined the Institute of Human Relations at Yale, where he co-founded the Cross-Cultural Survey.[1] In 1940, the same year he was appointed Assistant Professor of Yale's anthropology department, he spent time studying the Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia,[1] and initiated a comparative study of human reproduction.[1] During World War II, Ford received a lieutenant's commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and helped prepare military handbooks on the Pacific islands occupied by Japanese forces.[1] Ford returned to Yale in 1946 as associate professor of anthropology. As director of the Cross-Cultural Survey, he expanded the organization and renamed it the Human Relations Area Files.[1] In 1951, along with Frank Beach, Ford published Patterns of Sexual Behavior, which explored the sexual behavior of humans and animals. The work is considered a "classic" of its field.[1] Ford died from cancer in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 4, 1972.