John Adair (2) (1913–1997)

John Adair (1913-1997) was an anthropologist whose interests combined aesthetics and application, and whose area of focus was the American Southwest. Adair earned his PhD and the University of New Mexico in 1948; taught at Cornell University 1948-1950, and at San Francisco State University, 1966-1978. Three major projects on which he worked included research on silversmithing in the Southwest and work for the Navajo Tribe to encourage the craft; the Cornell University/Navajo Tribe/Indian Health Service research clinic at Many Farms, 1956-1960); and the filming project of 1966 known as ‘Through Navajo Eyes' (see Worth and Adair 1972, and Worth, Adair and Chalfen 1997). For an account of his full and productive life, see the obituary by Powers, (1999, American Anthropologist xx(x)) and the article by Barnett, Chalfen, Faris, McGreevy, and Powers, 1999: John Adair, 1913-1997: Work Across the Anthropological Spectrum (Journal of Anthropological Research 55:429-445).