Bateson, Gregory, 1904-1980

Eminent social scientist and philosopher.

From the description of Gregory Bateson papers, 1925-1985. (University of California, Santa Cruz). WorldCat record id: 18220165

Biographical Chronology

• May 9, 1904: Born in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, England. Third son of William Bateson (b. Aug. 8, 1861) and Caroline Beatrice Durham Bateson (b. 1870?). Brothers, John Bateson (b. April 22, 1898 - d. 1918) and Martin Bateson (b. 1899 - d. April 22, 1922). Grandson of William H. Bateson, Master of St. John's College, Cambridge and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University and Anna Aitken Bateson.
• 1913 - 1917 : Student, Warden House School, Upper Deal, Kent, England
• 1917 - 1921 : Student, Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, England
• 1918: Death of brother, John Bateson
• April 22, 1922: Suicide of brother, Martin Bateson
• 1922 January - September 1922 : Studies French & Botany at the University of Geneva and in Canton de Valais
• 1922 - 1926 : Student, Cambridge University Entrance Scholar, St. John's College, 1922 Foundation Scholar, 1924 Natural Science Tripos, First Class Honors, 1924 B.A., Natural Science, 1925 Anthropological Tripos, Pt.I, First class honors, 1926
• December 1924 - June 1925 : Expedition to Galapagos, engaged in research on Geospizae for British Museum Bird Department and collection of pelagic Coelenterates under William Beebe, Arcturus Expedition
• 1925 - 1926 : Anthropological Tripos, Pt.II under A.C. Haddon, Cambridge University; Classes in Social Psychology under F. C. Barlett and J. MacCurdy, Cambridge University
• February 8, 1926: Death of father, William Bateson.
• 1926 - 1928 : Anthony Wilkin Student, Cambridge University; Strathcoma Student, St. John's College, Cambridge
• September 1926: Study in Germany
• January 1927 - January 1928 : Anthropological field work in New Britain among the Baining of the Gazelle Peninsula
• 1928 April - July 1928 : Teacher, Melanesian Linguistics, Sydney University
• October 1928 - January 1930 : Anthropological field work among the Sulka of the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain and the Iatmul of New Guinea
• 1930: M.A., Anthropology, Cambridge University; Classes under Malinoski at London School of Economics
• 1931 - 1937 : Research Fellow, St. John's College, Cambridge
• January 1932 - Summer 1933 : Anthropological field work among the Iatmul of New Guinea
• 1933 - 1935 : Worked on Naven at St. John's College, Cambridge In Ireland with Waddington Experimental Psychology under F. C. Bartlett Visit to U.S., lecturing at Columbia University and the University of Chicago
• January 1936 - March 1938 : Anthropological field work with Margaret Mead in Bali
• March 1936: Married Margaret Mead (b. December 1916 - d. November 1978) in Singapore
• December 1936: Publication of Naven
• 1937: Elected William Wyse Scholar in Social Anthropology, Cambridge University (resigned 1945)
• April 1938 - February 1939 : Anthropological field work with wife, Margaret Mead among the Iatmul of New Guinea
• 1939 February - March 1939 : Anthropological field work with wife, Margaret Mead in Bali
• September 1939 - January 1940 : Voluntary work in England: analysis of radio broadcasts (Nazi) under Bartlett; and work with Mass Observation with T. Harrison, analyzing public opinion questionnaires
• December 8, 1939: Birth of daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson
• January 1940 - September 1942 : Analysis of Balinese and Iatmul material in collaboration with Margaret Mead, as guest of Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History
• October 1940 - 1942 : Secretary of the Committee for National Morale and the Council for Intercultural Relations (later Institute for Intercultural Studies) Secretary for the Council on Human Relations for first few months Worked for the Committee for National Morale. Secretary of the Conference on Methods in Philosophy and the Sciences Member of the Executive Committee of the Conference on Methods in Philosophy and the Sciences
• May 1941: Death of mother, Caroline Beatrice Durham Bateson
• May 1942: Macy conference on Cerebral Inhibition
• September 1942 - June 1943 : Film Analyst, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York
• December 1942: Publication of Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis with Margaret Mead
• January 1943 - January 1944 : Teacher of Melanesian Pidgin English, Naval School of Military Government & Administration, Columbia University
• July 1943 - November 1945 : Staff planner and Regional Specialist for Southeast Asia, U.S. Office of Strategic Services; overseas in Ceylon, India, Burma & China
• November 1945 - September 1946 : Research into Balinese culture conducted at the American Museum of Natural History
• March 1946: First Macy Conference on Feedback Mechanisms and Circular Causal Systems in Biological and Social Sciences
• September 1946 - June 1947 : Visiting Professor of Anthropology, New School for Social Research, NY Meeting on Teleological Mechanisms in Society New York Academy of Sciences Conference on Teleological Mechanisms Guggenheim Fellow
• 1947 - 1948 : Associate in Columbia University Seminar in "Contents and Methods of the Social Sciences" Visiting Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusett
• September 1948 - October 1949 : Research Associate with Dr. Jurgen Ruesch at the Langley Porter Clinic, University of California Medical School, San Francisco, CA
• November 1949 - 1963 : Ethnologist, Veterans Administration Hospital, Palo Alto, CA
• October 23, 1950: Divorced from Margaret Mead
• 1950: Married Elizabeth Sumner
• 1951: Birth of son, John Bateson
• 1951 - 1963 : Publication of Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry by Jurgen Ruesch, Gregory Bateson Visiting Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University, CA
• 1952 - 1954 : Director, Rockefeller Foundation grant research project on the Role of Paradoxes of Abstraction in Communication
• 1954 - 1959 : Director, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation grant research project on Schizophrenic Communication
• 1956: Becomes naturalized U.S. citizen Begins work on The Natural History of an Interview project
• 1957: Divorced from second wife, Elizabeth Sumner
• 1958: Navan re-issued with new preface and epilogue
• 1959 - 1962 : Principal Investigator, Research in Family Psychotherapy, funded by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Foundations' Fund for Research in Psychiatry Visiting Professor, California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA Frieda Fromm-Reichmann Award for Research in Schizophrenia Publication of Perceval's Narrative Began work with octopus
• 1961: Married third wife, Lois Cammack
• 1963 - 1964 : Associate Director, Communication Research Institute, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands Career Development Award, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• 1965 - 1972 : Associate Director, Oceanic Institute, Waimanalo, Hawaii Visiting Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawaii Professor & Director, International Honors Program, International School of America, traveling around the world Publication of Steps to an Ecology of Mind
• April 13, 1969: Birth of daughter, Nora Bateson
• 1972 - 1978 : Visiting Senior Lecturer, University of California, Santa Cruz Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Appointed to Board of Regents of the University of California
• November 15, 1978: Death of Margaret Mead
• 1978 - 1980 : Scholar in residence, Esalen Institute Worked on Where Angels Fear to Tread Publication of Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity
• July 4, 1980: Dies at the Zen Center, San Francisco, CA.

From the guide to the Gregory Bateson papers, 1925-1985, (University of California, Santa Cruz. University Library. Special Collections and Archives)