Sherwood Larned Washburn, the father of modern primatology who
first glimpsed the evolution of human behavior in the actions of
monkeys and apes, died Sunday from pneumonia at Alta Bates
Medical Center. He was 88. A professor of anthropology at UC
Berkeley from 1958 to his retirement in 1978 and one of a small
number of faculty members appointed as “University Professor”
for the nine-campus system, Washburn virtually established the
field of primatology in the 1950s following his studies on
baboon colonies in Kenya. For the next two decades, his theories
dominated interpretations of human social evolution and his
teachings inspired several generations of students. “Sherry
Washburn established at UC Berkeley the most influential program
of the century for the study of primatology, of fossil man, and
the biological and cultural evolution of humanity,” UC Berkeley
professor of anthropology J. Desmond Clark said in a statement.
“Those who were his friends and those who continue his work will
forever be in his deb