Bidney, David, 1908-1987

Anthropology professor at Indiana University for nearly 25 years.

From 1950 until his retirement in 1974, Professor David Bidney taught in both the Anthropology and Philosophy departments. During his tenure at IU, Bidney was a highly active member of the academic community. He presented many papers and wrote extensively on both the subjects of anthropology and philosophy. A renowned Spinoza scholar, he received many honors for his work entitled Theoretical anthropology, which became a standard text in many anthropology classes around the country. Prof. Bidney died in 1987.

David Bidney was born on 25 September 1908 in Ukraine, Russia. As an undergraduate Bidney attended classes at the University of Toronto where he received both his BA in 1928 and his MA in 1929. Bidney then went on to finish his PhD at Yale University in 1932.

After completing his PhD Bidney held a variety of positions prior to his coming to Indiana University in 1950, including Instructor in Philosophy at Yale University from 1940-1942 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in Anthropology in 1950.

Bidney was hired at Indiana University as an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology in September of 1950. He achieved the rank of Professor in 1955 and was named Professor Emeritus on 1 July 1974.

During his tenure at Indiana University Bidney was a highly active member of the academic community. He published many articles, presented many papers, and even wrote books on both the subjects of Anthropology and Philosophy. Bidney was a renown Spinoza scholar and received many honors for his work entitled "Theoretical Anthropology," which became a standard text in many anthropology classes around the country. David Bidney died in 1987.