Linguistics Professor John McCarthy of UMass Amherst Elected to American Academy of Arts And Sciences
May 5, 2005
| Contact: | Daniel J. Fitzgibbons 413/545-0444 |
AMHERST, Mass. – John McCarthy, professor and director of the graduate program in linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst , has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A total of 196 fellows were elected this year.
Founded in 1780, the academy is a learned honorary society that recognizes distinguished achievement in the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, and conducts programs on societal issues. It is perhaps best known to the public through its quarterly journal, Daedalus. Current members number about 4,000.
“Fellows are selected through a highly competitive process that recognizes individuals who have made preeminent contributions to their disciplines and to society at large,” said Patricia Meyer Spacks, president of the academy.
Others selected for induction this year include Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eric Cornell of the University of Colorado ; William Rehnquist, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; sculptor and painter Jeff Koons; actor and director Sindey Poitier; journalist Tom Brokaw; architect Maya Lin; and playwright Tony Kushner.
“I am thrilled, of course,” said McCarthy. “When I look at the list of other professors who were elected, they are all department heads or hold named chairs, so I'm very gratified by this recognition.”
“We're delighted—but not surprised—that John's work is being recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is certainly deserving of this honor,” said Lee R. Edwards, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.
McCarthy will join several other UMass Amherst faculty in the ranks of the American Academy of Arts Sciences. Professor Lynn Margulis, geosciences and emeritus professors Barbara Partee, linguistics; Peter Rossi and Alice Rossi, sociology; and Richard Stein, chemistry, were previously elected.
McCarthy works in phonological theory, how sounds combine to create language, and allied fields. His current research deals with a range of issues arising in and around
optimality theory, a general theory of constraint interaction. McCarthy says his research is often informed by evidence drawn from the Semitic languages.
McCarthy earned his bachelor's degree in linguistics and Near East languages from Harvard College in 1975 and a doctorate in linguistics and philosophy from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979. He was an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin from 1979-84 and an associate professor from 1984-85. He was also a consultant to AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey from 1984-86, and an instructor at the Linguistic Society of America Summer Institutes: Stanford University , 1987; University of California , Santa Cruz , 1991; and Cornell University , 1997. McCarthy has taught at UMass Amherst since 1985. He was head of the linguistics department from 1993-96.
Formal induction ceremonies will take place Oct. 8 in Cambridge , Mass.
John McCarthy can be reached at home at 413/549-7608, at his office at 413/545-6830, or by e-mail jmccarthy@linguist.umass.edu
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