Riall W. Nolan (born October 12, 1943) is an American anthropologist, an emeritus professor of anthropology at Purdue University, USA and a faculty member in the MPhil program in International Development at the University of Cambridge, UK. A scholar of international development, cross-cultural adaptation, and applied anthropology, he has conducted research on issues of change and development in Eastern Senegal, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Somalia, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Western Siberia. His work as a researcher and project specialist has included community led development initiatives with the Peace Corps, USAID, the World Bank, and numerous university and local NGO partners.[1]
His research in economic and cultural change has been published in numerous academic journals, and he is the author of several books on practicing and applied anthropology in the context of development, including Development anthropology: Encounters in the real world (2001, 2018), Using anthropology in the world (2017), Anthropology in practice: building a career outside the academy (2003), and A handbook of practicing anthropology (2016).