Eric Sunderland was a distinguished anthropologist who became president of the Royal Anthropological Institute as well as a loyal servant of his Welsh homeland. He was a Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd, a principal of Bangor University, and the election commissioner who announced the results of the Welsh referendum on devolution in 1997.
Eric Sunderland was born in 1930 in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. After Amman Valley Grammar School, he read geography at Aberystwyth in a department with a strong interest in anthropology. An MA thesis studying the physical anthropology of his native area was followed, after National Service in the Army, by a PhD at University College London. He then worked for several years as a field officer for the National Coal Board.
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In 1958 he took up a post at the University of Durham at a time when it was consolidating its teaching of anthropology. Sunderland played a part in ensuring that Durham stood for a rounded view of the subject, embracing social, medical and biological aspects. His inaugural lecture after being promoted to a professorship reflected on the bio-social aspects of his discipline, his special interest. In Wales, Kuwait, and other communities across the world, Sunderland explored and explained the variations, both morphological and genetic, which occur in human populations.
The Durham approach, matching his own personal perspective, made Sunderland an ideal representative figure within anthropology. In the UK, that took the form of service to the Royal Anthropological Institute, culminating in the presidency. That same combination of academic stature, personal probity and charm gave him prominence internationally, most notably in the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, culminating again in his tenure of its highest office. These roles made him a familiar figure in academic conferences across the globe. His wider role never caused him to neglect his own university. He latterly took on a term as Pro-Vice-Chancellor and showed throughout a deft administrative capacity.
A fluent Welsh speaker, in 1984 he returned to Wales to take charge of Bangor University. It was not a simple task. He had to undertake a clear-sighted review of its strengths and weaknesses in a climate of uncertainty. He succeeded, however, in imparting a sense of optimism and confidence amid the pain of change, and his leadership, through 11 years until his retirement in 1995, was valued both by his colleagues and the wider community of northwest Wales.
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It fell to him, as electoral commissioner, to announce the result of the Welsh devolution referendum in 1997. His latter-day service as Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd was exemplary, testifying to his ability to relate to all sections of society. He was appointed CBE in 2005.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and two daughters.
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Eric Sunderland, CBE, anthropologist, was born on March 18, 1930. He died on March 24, 2010, aged 80