Ivan Lorin George Sutherland was born on 10th May 1897 in Masterton, New Zealand, the son of Robert who worked as a machinist. He attended Victoria University College Wellington in 1916, graduating B.A. in Economics and Mental and Moral Philosophy in 1919. He completed his M.A. in 1920, and was awarded the Jacob Joseph Scholarship, his thesis being The Nature of Human Personality and Its Bearings on Some Modern Problems . The subject was a requirement of the scholarship. He was also awarded a Post Graduate Travelling Fellowship in Arts, which offered him free passage to Europe.
The first leg of his trip brought him to the University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1921 to complete a PhD within the department of Moral Philosophy, under the guidance of Sir Henry Jones. He took classes in (Hons) Moral Philosophy as well as (Hons) Political Philosophy. He remained at the University of Glasgow until September 1922 when he then transferred to continue as a research student at the University of London under Professor Hobhouse at Kings College. Ivan returned to New Zealand in December 1923, and completed his Doctoral Thesis, entitled A Critical Examination of Some Tendencies in Psychology in Relation to the Theory of Human Conduct in 1924. He graduated in absentia from Glasgow University on the 22 April 1924.
Ivan was appointed lecturer in Psychology and Philosophy at Victoria University College in Wellington. It was around this time that he also became involved in researching the relationship between Maori and Pakeha, and he struck up a close bond with Sir Apiranta Ngata and the tribe Ngati Porou. In 1935 Ivan published The Maori Situation . Wellington, New Zealand : Harry H Tombs Ltd , 1935 . which outlined the Maori/Pakeha relations. It was in the year of 1937 that he was appointed Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch. In 1940 The Maori People Today . London and New York : Oxford University Press , 1940 . was published with Ivan as editor. I
van's final piece of research was undertaken in 1951 when he set about documenting the education, housing, health and welfare of the Maori. This research was never concluded as he died on the 11th February 1952 . He was survived by his wife Nancy, whom he had married in May 1937, and his children Diony, Jan, Oliver, Wallace and Julia.
From the guide to the Papers of Ivan Lorin George Sutherland, 1897-1952, Moral Philosophy postgraduate, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 2002, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
