alfred louis kroeber (june 11, 1876 – october 5, 1960) was an american cultural anthropologist. he earned his ph.d. at columbia university in 1901. franz boas supervised kroeber's studies. kroeber was also the first professor in the department of anthropology at the university of california, berkeley. he was director of the museum of anthropology at berkeley from 1909 through 1947. kroeber studied an man named ishi, the last surviving member of the yahi people. kroeber was the father of the novelist, poet, and writer of short stories ursula k. le guin.