Norvin Richards Named 2010 MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Norvin Richards, Professor of Linguistics, and Irene Heim, Professor of Linguistics, and Head, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, in conversation in the Stata Center. Photography, Webb Chappell
Four professors were honored for outstanding undergraduate teaching, mentoring and educational innovation when they were named as the 2010 MacVicar Faculty Fellows: Annette (Peko) Hosoi, of mechanical engineering, Krishna Rajagopal, of physics, Rajeev Ram, of electrical engineering and computer science, and Norvin Richards, of linguistics and philosophy.
Provost L. Rafael Reif formally announced honorees to the MIT faculty during a reception at Gray House on Tuesday. “Appointment as a MacVicar Fellow recognizes professors who have made exemplary and sustained contributions to the teaching and complete education of MIT undergraduates,” said Reif, “which includes their dedication inside the classroom and beyond.” The 10-year fellowship provides an annual scholar’s allowance to support faculty efforts to enrich undergraduate learning experiences.
Endangered Languages
Article on the work of Norvin Richards and colleagues
Soundings Magazine | Spring 2009
About Norvin Richards
Richards received his BA from Cornell University in 1993 and his PhD from MIT in 1997. He is an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.
He is interested in a variety of topics in syntax, including the syntax of wh-movement and the syntax-phonology interface, and has done fieldwork on a number of languages. He is the author of Movement in Language: Interactions and Architectures (Oxford University Press, 2001) and "Featural Cyclicity and the Ordering of Multiple Specifiers" in Working Minimalism (MIT Press, 1999).
“Every conceivable virtue is evident in Norvin’s teaching,” explains one of his colleagues. “His planning is extensive and perfect. He comes to class, lays out the issues, data and analysis with clarity and beauty. Norvin is the kind of teacher who makes his audience think and ask questions because they find it fun to do so.”
“Professor Richards is easily one of the best instructors I’ve had in my life,” one of his students told the selection committee. “His lectures are entertaining, interesting and content-packed. The care and attention he pays to his students is very evident and quite inspirational.”
Full Article
Four Professors named 2010 MacVicar Faculty Fellows
MIT News
MIT Linguistics Website
Norvin Richards