American anthropologist, archaeologist, and student of California Indian ethnography who developed the University of California Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, into a major U.S. collection.

A competent naturalist, Gifford accompanied expeditions of the California Academy of Sciences and became assistant curator of ornithology (1904–12) of the Academy. His 44-year association (1912–56) with the Museum of Anthropology culminated in his directorship. On the California faculty from 1920, he became professor of anthropology in 1945.

Gifford's California Indian ethnographies are uncommonly rich in detail. Two of his works remain primary sources: California Kinship Terminologies (1922) and, on physical characteristics, California Anthropometry (1926). He also made an anthropological expedition to the Tonga Islands (1921) and wrote Tongan Society (1929). The organization of materials collected by himself and other researchers and the detailed information he provided on their cultural context constituted a notable achievement in museum work. Gifford also helped to advance the concept of the lineage, an important idea in modern anthropology.

Later Gifford became increasingly interested in archaeology and contributed to the study of northwestern Mexico (1945–46). His Oceanian work led to important excavations in New Caledonia, Fiji, and Yap. He collaborated with anthropologist A.L. Kroeber on World Renewal (1949) and wrote Archaeological Excavations in Fiji (1951).