The Michigan State University Department of Anthropology is sad to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Dr. Bernard Gallin. Dr. Gallin passed away at the age of 94 on December 16th, 2023. Dr. Gallin taught, conducted research, with the Department of Anthropology from 1962 until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2002, and for 15 years served as the Anthropology department chair.
Dr. Gallin received a B.S. from City College of New York in 1951, followed by beginning graduate studies at Cornell University. After only one year his studies were interrupted by the Korean War, as he was drafted and assigned to work in Tokyo, Japan, as an expert on China. After completion of service in 1954, he began fieldwork in Taiwan with his wife and lifelong research partner Dr. Rita Gallin (MSU Professor Emerita of Sociology).
Dr. Gallin was the first Western anthropologist to do a Taiwanese village ethnography, and he and his wife continued to research and publish on Taiwan during their career and after retiring. The lifelong study of Taiwan culminated in the Gallins receiving Honorary Taiwanese citizenship in 2006. The Annual Endowed Bernard Gallin Lecture in Asian Anthropology series was named in Dr. Gallin’s honor after his retirement from the Department of Anthropology.
Dr. Gallin is survived by his wife and MSU Professor Emerita of Sociology Dr. Rita Gallin, sons Marc and Peter, daughter-in-law Patricia, nieces, nephews, and a wide circle of family and friends.
For Dr. Gallin’s faculty profile, click here.
For Dr. Gallin’s online memorial, click here.