Claire Bowern is Professor of Linguistics at Yale University specializing in historical linguistics, language documentation, and Australian Indigenous languages. Her research employs computational phylogenetics to study language evolution and supports language revitalization through digital archives and fieldwork methodologies. Recent publications address: Phylogenetic signal in lexical evolution across language families Digital infrastructure for endangered language documentation (FLEx software analysis) Decolonizing linguistics pedagogy and research practices Her work consistently integrates linguistic, anthropological, and computational approaches to analyze language diversity and change. She contributes to global databases including Grambank and D-PLACE, examining links between linguistic, cultural, and environmental patterns.
Anna Berge is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, directing the Alaska Native Language Archive. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley (1997), specializing in the documentation, description, and historical analysis of Eskimo-Aleut languages, particularly Unangam Tunuu (Aleut). Her research integrates linguistics with archaeology, genetics, and environmental studies to explore prehistoric language contact and divergence patterns along the North Pacific Coast. Her work focuses on morphosyntax, discourse analysis, and language revitalization for highly endangered languages. She teaches courses in Morphology, Field Methods, Community Language Documentation, and Eskimo-Aleut Linguistics, emphasizing practical skills for language preservation. Berge's multidisciplinary approach addresses Aleut language divergence from Eskimoan branches, leveraging data from multiple disciplines to reconstruct linguistic prehistory. She actively collaborates with Indigenous communities in Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland to archive linguistic materials and support language maintenance initiatives.
Jiwon Yun is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Stony Brook University. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Cornell University (2013) and a B.S.E. in Computer Science & Engineering from Seoul National University (cum laude with honors). Her research focuses on speech prosody, syntax-semantics interfaces, and computational modeling of sentence processing, with special attention to East Asian languages like Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese. Dr. Yun teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in computational linguistics, semantics, pragmatics, and experimental phonetics. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics and experimental methods, examining how prosody interacts with syntactic and semantic structures. Recent publications investigate prosodic disambiguation of syntactic ambiguities, computational models of relative clause processing, and intonation patterns in Korean and Mandarin. She has developed tools for automated speech corpus analysis and maintains a Hangul-Yale Romanization Converter for linguistic research. Her research has been published in journals like Humanities and Social Sciences Communications , Linguistic Inquiry , and Journal of East Asian Linguistics . Teaching responsibilities include courses such as LIN 335 (Computational Linguistics) and LIN 627 (Computational Semantics).
Jonathan David Bobaljik is a leading linguist whose research spans formal syntax, phonology, and the documentation of endangered languages, particularly Itelmen. He is actively involved in multiple international research collaborations and regularly presents at major linguistic conferences across Europe and North America. His work is published in top journals such as Natural Language and Linguistic Theory and Language . His research interests lie at the intersection of theoretical and descriptive linguistics. He investigates universal patterns in morphology and syntax, including suppletion, vowel harmony, ergativity, and control structures, often using data from understudied languages like Itelmen. His work combines rigorous formal analysis with deep empirical grounding in language documentation. The recent publications reflect a strong trend toward integrating typological diversity with formal theory. Key areas include morphosyntactic universals (e.g., suppletion in pronouns), information structure in verb-final languages, and the phonology of ejective consonants. There is also a growing emphasis on sociolinguistic and community-based aspects, as seen in collaborative work on language revitalization and the social life of the Itelmen language. He has received recognition through numerous scholarly publications and invited talks, though specific awards are not listed in the provided text. His collaborative projects suggest active grant involvement, particularly in language documentation and cross-linguistic typology. Bobaljik plays a central role in the Itelmen documentation and revitalization project, contributing to the creation of a dictionary app, the publication of historical manuscripts, and public exhibits on Siberian Indigenous knowledge. He collaborates with a team including David Koester, Chikako Ono, Tatiana Degai, and Maria Pupynina.
Emily A. Gasser is an Associate Professor in the Linguistics Department at Swarthmore College , specializing in Austronesian languages , Wallacea & northwest New Guinea , and language documentation . Her research spans phonology, morphology, typology , and language contact , with a focus on endangered languages and computational phylogenetics . She is currently on sabbatical for the 2025-26 academic year, conducting fieldwork in Manokwari, writing a Wamesa grammar, and developing new courses. Research Interests include: Language documentation and fieldwork in Austronesian and Papuan-speaking regions Phonological variation and vowel harmony systems Typological surveys of adnominal possession and morphological structures Interaction between prosodic features in media speech and socio-phonetics Computational tools for historical linguistics and classifier system analysis Recent publications focus on vowel harmony , prosodic perception , and possessive constructions across Wallacea and Northwest New Guinea. She edits volumes on Austronesian-Papuan language contact and contributes to open-access research initiatives.
Emily M. Bender is the Thomas L. and Margo G. Wyckoff Endowed Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Washington. She also holds adjunct appointments in the School of Computer Science and Engineering and the Information School. Her research spans multilingual grammar engineering, computational linguistics, societal impacts of language technology, and sociolinguistic variation. She directs the Computational Linguistics Laboratory (The Treehouse) and leads the CLMS program. Bender is a Fellow of the AAAS (2022) and previously served as Howard and Frances Nostrand Endowed Professor (2019–2022). She has authored influential textbooks on NLP fundamentals and pioneered work on data statements to mitigate bias in NLP systems. Her work integrates linguistic theory with computational methods, emphasizing ethical AI and language documentation. Education: PhD in Linguistics from Stanford University (advisor: Ivan A. Sag), AB in Linguistics from UC Berkeley, with studies at Tohoku University. Past roles include NAACL Executive Board Chair (2016–2017) and current roles in the Association for Computational Linguistics leadership. Her Erdős number is 4. Research focuses on the LinGO Grammar Matrix, automatic grammar inference from interlinear glossed text (AGGREGATION project), and societal implications of NLP technologies like large language models. She co-leads the RAISE initiative and contributes to labs like the Tech Policy Lab and Value Sensitive Design Lab. Over 30 advisees have completed PhD and MS degrees under her mentorship. Teaching includes courses on syntax for NLP, societal impacts of language tech, and computational linguistics. Her 2020 ACL paper on form-meaning distinctions in NLP has been influential in ethical discussions. Current projects include The AI CON (2025) on combating tech hype.
Florian Lionnet is an Associate Professor of Linguistics in Princeton University's Council of the Humanities and Director of Undergraduate Studies. He holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (2016) and joined Princeton in 2017. His research focuses on phonetics/phonology, typology, areal and historical linguistics, and language documentation, with a focus on African and Oceanic languages. Current projects include endangered languages in Chad and New Caledonia, involving annual fieldwork collaborations with anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, and archaeologists. Research interests emphasize tonal systems, phonological representation, and language contact, particularly in Laal (an isolate language), Fanya (Bua), and Khoisan languages. His work bridges theory and practice, contributing to both linguistic theory and endangered language preservation. Articles explore tone phonology, areal patterns, and subphonemic effects, with recent emphasis on Kalahari Basin and Oceanic languages. Teaching responsibilities include directing undergraduate studies in Linguistics. No awards or grants are explicitly listed, though his fieldwork suggests active research funding. His office is located at 1-S-18 Green Hall, Princeton University.
George Perry is a Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, with research intersections in Biology, Evolutionary Medicine, and Genomics. He is affiliated with the Huck Institutes' Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Ecology, Molecular Cellular and Integrative Biosciences, and Bioinformatics and Genomics programs. Perry directs the Anthropological Genomics Lab , focusing on paleogenomics and evolutionary adaptation. Research areas: anthropological genomics, parasite evolution, human body size transitions, and evolutionary medicine Key collaborations: international teams in Madagascar, Europe, and Africa Leadership: Bioinformatics and Genomics Chair (2019–2023) His 2025–2022 publications span evolutionary responses to invasive species, human migration health impacts, chemosensory gene adaptation, and primate genomic diversity. Notable methodological contributions include ancient DNA recovery and comparative paleogenomics. Perry advises graduate students like Vanessa Garcia and Annette Mercedes, with grants including NIH support for Cuban health disparity studies. Scientific leadership includes tenure-line promotions (2023) and NASA Space Grant collaborations.
Mykel Loren Brinkerhoff is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Acting Phonetics Lab Director in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Washington. His research focuses on phonology, phonetics, and linguistic fieldwork, particularly on Mesoamerican languages like Santiago Laxopa Zapotec. He investigates syntactic and prosodic phenomena in Celtic and Germanic languages and collaborates on projects such as the Zapotec Language Project. Brinkerhoff has taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, leading courses in phonetics, phonology, and syntax. He mentors students in fieldwork and linguistic analysis, with notable projects on Zapotec voice quality and Scandinavian syntax. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with empirical research, contributing to our understanding of phonological interfaces and language structure. His publications explore topics like voice quality in Zapotec, Norwegian object shift, and Welsh morphophonology. He actively contributes to academic discourse through presentations at conferences like LabPhon and SSILA. Brinkerhoff’s research also emphasizes documenting endangered languages and advancing methodologies in acoustic phonetics.
Julie Anne Legate is Professor and Chair of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Linguistics. She earned her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002. Legate co-directs the Penn Syntax Lab and served as Editor-in-Chief of Natural Language & Linguistic Theory for 10 years. Her research focuses on syntactic theory, morphosyntax, and syntax-semantics interfaces, with specialization in endangered/understudied languages. Key interests include passives, impersonals, causatives, null subjects, case theory, and locality domains. She maintains secondary research interests in language acquisition. Legate's publications demonstrate extensive work on voice systems (especially passives), ergativity, case theory, recursion, and cross-linguistic analysis of languages including Acehnese, Warlpiri, and Lithuanian. Her research frequently combines theoretical innovation with empirical fieldwork. Awards include the LSA’s Best Paper in Language Award (2020) for On Passives of Passives . She has advised multiple PhD students including Faruk Akkuş (2021), Milena Šereikaitė (2020), Ava Irani (2019), Helen Jeoung (2018), and Einar Freyr Sigurðsson (2017). Current projects include: syntactic islands (with Charles Yang), Mandarin bridge verbs (with Jiayi Lu and Charles Yang), null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese (with Gesoel Mendes), and passive agent binding.
Emily Prud'hommeaux is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Boston College. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University, an M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. from Oregon Health & Science University. Her research focuses on natural language processing and speech signal processing, particularly in under-resourced and endangered language contexts, with applications to health and accessibility. Her work emphasizes community-centered approaches to language technology, including developing tools for endangered language documentation and supporting neurodiverse communication needs. She co-founded the Computational Linguistics and Speech Processing lab at RIT and leads a lab at Boston College, supported by an NSF DLI grant for corpus development in endangered languages. Recent achievements include student recognitions such as Gavin Zhang’s McCarthy Prize and Neuhauser Award, and Robbie Jimerson’s successful defense of a dissertation on Seneca language ASR. Collaborators include Dr. Eric Le Ferrand (postdoc, 2023) and former student Dr. Zoey Liu, now a faculty member at the University of Florida.
Laura Kalin is the Acting Director of the Program in Linguistics at Princeton University since Fall 2024, having previously served as Associate Director from Fall 2023. She is an Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Council of the Humanities and joined Princeton in 2016. Her full name is Laura Kalin, and she holds a Ph.D. from UCLA (2014). She is based at Green Hall (1-S-4C/1-S-19) and can be reached via lkalin@princeton.edu. Her research focuses on syntax and morphology in understudied and endangered languages, particularly Neo-Aramaic (e.g., Turoyo, Senaya, and Adıyaman Kurmanji), Austroasiatic (Nancowry), Austronesian (Malagasy), and Carib (Hixkaryana) languages. Key research themes include allomorphy, infixation, nominal licensing, agreement systems, and the interplay between morphosyntax and phonology. She also explores root-and-pattern morpho-phono-syntactic structures in languages like Malagasy and Turoyo. Laura’s research contributions span formal linguistic theory, typology, and fieldwork-based analysis. Recent work emphasizes cyclic morphosyntax-phonology interactions and morphological opacity across languages. She has published in major journals such as NLLT and Glossa, and her website (www.laurakalin.com) provides further details on her work. No scientific awards are explicitly listed in the provided texts. Her advising and grant activities remain unreported here. She is affiliated with the Program in Linguistics, the Humanities Council, and the Joseph Henry House at Princeton.
Kendall King is a Professor of Multilingual Education and Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Faculty Development at the University of Minnesota , College of Education and Human Development. With expertise in sociolinguistics and language policy, they coordinate the undergraduate TESL minor and lead research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education through CARLA. B.A. Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara (1991) M.S. TESOL, University of Pennsylvania (1993) Ph.D. Educational Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania (1997) Their research focuses on second language learning , bilingualism , and equity , particularly in contexts involving minoritized languages and immigrant/refugee populations. They examine how family and school practices influence language use and academic success, with a strong emphasis on native language literacy as a pedagogical resource. Recent publications analyze neoliberal influences on language policies, including critiques of state seals of biliteracy and bilingual parenting frameworks. Their work has shaped Minnesota's LEAPS Act (2014), promoting multilingual approaches for English learners. Collaborative studies with Martha Bigelow highlight literacy development in newcomer students. Scientific Awards: Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award (AAAL, 2024) Linda Duttenhaver Distinguished Alumni Award (UC Education Abroad, 2023) ACTFL Research Priorities Initiative (2019) Helen C. Bailey Alumni Award (2016) Imagine Fund Annual Award (UMN, 2014) CEHD Summer Research Award (UMN, 2012) King emphasizes responsive advising and co-publishing with PhD students, supporting their participation in conferences and departmental intellectual life. They co-lead initiatives to expand multilingual recognition through state biliteracy seals.
University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States
Prof. Ryan Keith Shosted is a full-time tenured Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , affiliated with the Department of Linguistics , Spanish and Portuguese , American Indian Studies Program , Beckman Institute , Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies , Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies , and Center for African Studies . He serves as Director of the Program in Translation and Interpreting Studies and leads the Chin-Woo Kim Phonetics Laboratory . Education: Ph.D. , Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley (2006) M.A. , Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley (2003) B.A. , Linguistics, Brigham Young University (2000) Shosted's research focuses on the intersection of phonetics , phonology , and historical linguistics . He pioneered the application of ultrafast dynamic MRI to study the vocal tract's physiological-acoustic mapping in diverse languages, including Hittite cuneiform , Deseret Alphabet , and endangered languages like Q'anjob'al. His work spans speech production modeling , nasalization mechanisms , and cross-linguistic articulatory analysis . The 15 most recent publications demonstrate his leadership in dynamic speech imaging , phonetic-aerodynamic modeling , and historical sound change analysis . Key trends include advanced MRI techniques for speech study, phonetic universals , and historical writing systems as tools for linguistic reconstruction. Scientific Awards: Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2021) Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2021) Arnold O. Beckman Award (2009, 2010) Jacob K. Javits Fellowship (2001-2005) Shosted's grant portfolio includes NSF funding for nasalization research (BCS-1651197, BCS-1121780) and NIH collaboration (1R01DE027989-01A1) on cleft palate speech. He has directed 12 graduate students and taught courses ranging from Hittite language to quantitative phonetic methods . The Chin-Woo Kim Phonetics Laboratory , under his directorship since 2007, expanded in 2010 to include articulatory phonetics facilities with EPG, ultrasound, and MRI analysis capabilities. He continues to lead Beckman Institute collaborations in speech imaging technology.
University of California , Santa Barbara (UCSB)United States
Emiliana Cruz Cruz is a professor-researcher at the Center for Research and Higher Education in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) in Mexico City, specializing in linguistic anthropology with a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. Originally from Cieneguilla, San Juan Quiahije, Oaxaca, she focuses on indigenous language preservation and community collaboration. Her educational background includes: PhD in Linguistic Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, USA Dr. Cruz Cruz's research spans linguistic anthropology, indigenous language documentation, and revitalization, with emphasis on education, language rights, and territory-indigenous identity relationships. She actively participates in the collective "Dialogues among Indigenous Scholars," centering indigenous epistemologies and community-driven methodologies to address language endangerment through ethnographic approaches. Her publications demonstrate consistent community-engaged scholarship on Chatino language transmission, intergenerational knowledge transfer, landscape-language interconnections, and theoretical contributions from indigenous researchers in anthropological fieldwork. Key recognitions include: Distinguished Community Engagement Award from the University of Massachusetts for the Chatino Language Documentation Project SNI Level I by the Mexican National System of Researchers She currently leads multiple initiatives including a Chatino dictionary with ethnographic context, neuroplasticity studies in endangered language speakers, and broader Chatino language preservation projects, maintaining deep collaboration with indigenous communities across Latin America.
