Dr. Ellsworth K (“Eric”) Gunderson died peacefully at home in San Diego on November 10, 2015 at the age of 92. He is survived by his sons John, Jim and Steve. Eric was born on September 18, 1923 in Max Bass, North Dakota to Halver and Elvina Gunderson. After serving in the medical corps of the 11th Armored Division in World War II, he attended UCLA and married Maxine Murphy, who was also studying psychology there. Eric received his PhD in 1953 and had a distinguished career in scientific research, including significant contributions to the study of the social and psychological effects of isolation and confinement in Antarctica and other extreme locations. He applied that expertise in several NASA and National Academy of Sciences research projects on long term space flight. Eric spent most of his career at the Naval Health Research Center in Point Loma, from its beginnings in the early 1960s when it was known as the Navy’s Medical Neuropsychiatric Research Unit to the late 1980s when he served as Scientific Director. He was appointed Adjunct Professor in 1971 and Adjunct Clinical Professor in 1975 in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego. He was elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association in 1971, received the Navy’s Superior Civilian Service Award in 1989 and the Society of Navy General Preventive Medicine Officers’ Albert Leary Gihon Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
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