Geoffrey Khan

Professor Geoffrey Khan serves as the Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. He has held this prestigious position since 2012, following his academic progression from Lecturer in Hebrew and Aramaic (1993), to Reader in Semitic Philology (1999-2002), and Professor of Semitic Philology (2002-2012). His scholarly journey began with B.A. and Ph.D. studies in Semitic Languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Professor Khan's academic foundation includes a B.A. in Semitic Languages (1980) and a Ph.D. (1984) for his thesis "Extraposition and Pronominal Agreement in Semitic languages." His career at Cambridge commenced in 1983 with the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, where he has remained a central figure in Semitic scholarship.

Professor Khan's research spans three major domains within Semitic linguistics. His work on Hebrew encompasses comprehensive studies of Biblical Hebrew syntax, the Tiberian Masoretic tradition, and medieval Hebrew grammatical thought, particularly Karaite contributions. In Aramaic studies, he has conducted extensive documentation of endangered North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects through fieldwork across northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, and western Iran. His Arabic research focuses on editing medieval documentary corpora, including materials from the Cairo Genizah and early Islamic regions. He serves as editor-in-chief of the comprehensive Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, containing approximately 1,000 articles on Hebrew language traditions.

Professor Khan's publication trajectory reveals consistent scholarly productivity across multiple Semitic language traditions. His recent works demonstrate particular focus on the Tiberian pronunciation tradition of Biblical Hebrew (2020), Neo-Aramaic dialect documentation (2021-2024), and medieval Arabic documents from Nubia (2024). His scholarship bridges traditional philological approaches with contemporary linguistic theory, addressing both historical and contemporary aspects of Semitic languages.

Professor Khan's scholarly distinction is reflected in numerous prestigious honors:

• Election as Fellow of the British Academy (1998)
• Election as Honorary Fellow of the Academy of the Hebrew Language (2011)
• Election as Fellow of Academia Europea (2014)
• Election as Honorary Member of the American Oriental Society (2015)
• Extraordinary Professor (Honorary) by University of Stellenbosch (2016)
• Lidzbarski Gold Medal for Semitic philology (2004)
• Honorary doctorates from Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2017) and University of Uppsala (2018)

Professor Khan actively supervises graduate research, currently guiding Lina Brüssel's work on "The Medieval Karaite Transcriptions of Hebrew into Arabic Script." His leadership extends to multiple major research initiatives including the "Documentation of North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Dialects" project, "Arabic Documents from Fatimid Nubia," and the preparation of the "Oxford Grammar of Biblical Hebrew" for Oxford University Press. His scholarly contributions have been supported by various funding bodies enabling extensive fieldwork and publication projects across multiple continents.