Nick Danis

Nick Danis is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has been since 2025. Previously, he held positions as Lecturer at Washington University (2019-2025), Princeton University (2017-2019, 10%-60% FTE), and Adjunct Professor at Rowan University (2018). He earned his PhD in Linguistics from Rutgers University in 2017, alongside an MA in Applied Linguistics (Boston University, 2011) and dual B.A. (cum laude) in Linguistics and B.S. in Film and Television from Boston University (2008).

His research focuses on theoretical phonology, particularly within Optimality Theory, computational and mathematical linguistics, and African languages. Key interests include the balance between representation and computation, linguistic typologies, and formal modeling. He has conducted fieldwork in Cameroon on Medumba (Grassfields Bantu) and contributed to projects like the Panphones game, exploring phonetic and phonological representation through computational methods.

Teaching spans courses like Introduction to Linguistics, Phonological Analysis, and Computational Linguistics. Notable awards include the 2019 Washington University Course Innovation Grant and Mellon Summer Study Grants (2014, 2016). His work has been published in journals like Linguistic Inquiry and Phonology, with research extending to formal phonological theory, comparative representation systems, and empirical studies in African languages.