Linguistics’ Lisa Green to Receive Ubora Award from Springfield Museums

Lisa Green, professor of linguistics and founding director of the Center for the Study of African American Language at UMass Amherst, has been named by the Springfield Museums as recipient of its Ubora Award for 2023. 

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Named for the Swahili word meaning “excellence,” the Ubora Award has been presented annually since 1991 to an African American adult who has demonstrated a commitment to Greater Springfield and has exhibited excellence in the fields of community service, education, science, humanities or the arts, Springfield Museums said. Green’s award will be presented at a special ceremony at the Museums on Sept. 16.

Green is an expert in syntax and African American English (AAE). She founded the Center for the Study of African American Language at UMass in 2006. She is also the author of two books and is working on a third, all published by Cambridge University Press. 

“I could not believe that I had been selected (for the Ubora Award),” Green said, “especially because I was very familiar with a number of previous recipients and simply could not see myself even approaching being in such amazing company. It is an incredible honor.” 

Green is as passionate about community service as she is about her academic specialty, according to Joe Pater, chair of the UMass Linguistics Department, who nominated her for the award. 

She is an active volunteer and mentor with the Greater Springfield Chapter of Links Inc., the Western Massachusetts Chapter of Jack and Jill of America and the Xi Xi Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Since 1996, Green has been running a children’s summer reading program that she started at a church in her hometown of Lake Arthur, Louisiana.