Outstanding Professor Award

Graham Thurgood
2007

Professor Thurgood, who received his Ph.D. in linguistics from UC, Berkeley, came to CSU, Chico in 1999, after a long career at CSU, Fresno. He has been described as an outstanding professor: exemplary teaching, scholarship, and service.

Dr. Thurgood is a distinguished and prolific scholar. He has written three books, more than one hundred articles, and twenty-seven reviews, and has presented over 100 papers at national and international conferences. He has received three prestigious National Science Foundation grants, among the most difficult to get. He has won two Fulbright awards, both with a teacher training focus.

His current research field work in China shows his strong interest in the description and preservation of endangered languages, with an emphasis what these tell us about Southeast Asian history. His most recent work has been on two languages: Hainan Cham, an Austronesian language of Hainan, and on Anong, a Tibeto-Burman language found in the upper reaches of the Nu River (= Salween). His co-edited volume (with Randy LaPolla) The Sino-Tibetan Languages contains grammatical sketches of a large number of minority languages of China.

In the classroom, Graham is an inspiring teacher; his teaching skills are exceptional. He is well organized and well prepared, and he demands the best from his students and works tirelessly to help guide them and enable them to realize their potential. He effectively explains complex concepts in simple and readily understood terms. One admiring student cites not only his devotion to students and genuine enthusiasm but also his warmth and humor -- " he is a world-class punner, always eliciting good-natured groans from his students."

Graham's record of service is equally impressive. He has served on numerous campus committees, and was instrumental in designing, starting and developing the linguistics major. He is active off-campus as well. He is on the advisory board of several journals and regularly reviews papers for several others. He co-founded the prestigious Berkeley Linguistics Society and the journal Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. He is a regular reviewer for NSF, NEH, and other grant agencies and foundations.

His hobby, cooking, is largely unrelated although it does show a Southeast Asian influence.

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