Cunningham was born in the
manse at
Crieff, the son of the
Very Rev John Cunningham (1819–1893) and of his wife Susan Porteous Murray. His father became Moderator of the General Assembly in 1886. Following education at
Crieff Academy he studied medicine at the
University of Edinburgh, where he qualified as Bachelor of Medicine and
Master of Surgery (M.B. C.M.) with first-class honours in 1874 and attained his M.D. in 1876, receiving a gold medal for his thesis. From 1876 until 1882 he acted as a demonstrator for his professor at the university. After one year as Professor of Anatomy at the
Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (in Dublin) he moved to the chair of Anatomy at
Trinity College, Dublin, which he held from 1883 to 1903. On the appointment of Sir William Turner to the post of Principal and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Edinburgh he was invited to succeed him as Professor of Anatomy and he held that post from 1903 until his death. His
Text-book of Anatomy, first published in 1902, went through 15 editions under various editors: the first three editions were prepared under Cunningham's editorship. He was at various times president of the
Royal Zoological Society of Ireland, secretary and vice-president of the
Royal Dublin Society and president of the
Anatomical Society (1893–95). Cunningham was also editor of the
Journal of Anatomy between 1900 and 1907. He was elected a fellow of the
Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, the
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the
Royal Society (1891) and the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1878 he was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were
Sir William Turner,
John Hutton Balfour,
Alexander Crum Brown, and
James Bryce. In 1887 he was elected a member of the
Harveian Society of Edinburgh and in 1904 he was elected a member of the
Aesculapian Club. He died unexpectedly at home, 18 Grosvenor Crescent in Edinburgh's West End, on 23 July 1909 and was buried with his wife, Elizabeth, and children near the eastern side of
Dean Cemetery in
Edinburgh, close to the
Dean Gallery entrance. His position as professor of anatomy was filled by
Arthur Robinson. ==Family==