The summer of 2026 brings lots of changes in the Department of Linguistics. Richard Wright, is taking up the position of Interim Dean of Humanities. As Chair of the Department of Linguistics for eleven years, he furthered the growth of the department, faculty and programs. During his tenure, the department added 7 junior faculty, which brought two more research labs into the department. The American Sign Language program (which now has 30 minors) and Computational Linguistics Master of Science are thriving with the support of new faculty hires. His mentorship fostered the promotions of 4 junior faculty and 6 senior faculty. This growth has enabled the department to attract and teach more students resulting in the number of Linguistics undergraduate majors to increase from 95 in 2015 to 180 in 2026. In addition, he provided leadership and guidance through the very uncertain times of the Covid pandemic and two financial crises. We thank him for his dedicated stewardship!
Taking the place of Chair of the department is Barbara (Basia) Citko. Basia brings a wealth of experience, having been in the department for over 20 years, previously served as Associate Chair of the Department from 2023-2025 and served on the Arts & Sciences College Council. We’re grateful for Basia’s commitment to the department.
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