Chomsky

Noam Chomsky (1928-Present)

By CTHall
  • Born in Philadelphia, PA

    Born in Philadelphia, PA

    Avram Noam Chomsky was born into a Jewish family of immigrants. He was a child of teachers of contemporary and religious studies. Chomsky was exposed to radical left politics and philosophy when he was young that helped charge his aspirations and goals.
  • Undergraduate Studies

    Undergraduate Studies

    Chomsky attended the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16. He completed his Bachelor of Arts as well as his Master of Arts degrees there, focusing on linguistics.
  • Doctorate Completion

    Doctorate Completion

    Chomsky attended Harvard University for four year while working on his research that would later form his dissertation. His work in transformational grammar earned him a Doctor of Philosophy from his previous alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. He began lecturing at other esteemed universities such as Yale.
  • Assistant Professor Job at MIT

    Assistant Professor Job at MIT

    Chomsky taught courses on linguistics and philosophy. He also worked on a mechanical translation project. Concurrently, he was employed at Columbia University.
  • National Science Foundation

    National Science Foundation

    For approximately a year, Chomsky was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies. He later assisted on linguistic projects for the military, despite his political beliefs.
  • First Book on Linguistics Published

    First Book on Linguistics Published

    Noam Chomsky published Syntactic Structures which contradicted the dominant theories in the field at the time. Several others followed over the years which solidified his role as an intellectual and field expert.
  • Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics

    Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics

    Chomsky received tenure at MIT and went on to form the University's graduate program in linguistics. His academic career is still going strong today, teaching at many schools and lecturing nationwide. He retired from MIT in 2002 and currently teaches at the University of Arizona. His salary is paid for by donations.
  • Noam Chomsky Publications

    Chomsky, Noam. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. M.I.T. Pr, 1976.
    Chomsky, Noam, and James McGilvray. Cartesian Linguistics a Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
    Chomsky, Noam. Syntactic Structures. Mouton, 1957.
  • Youtube Video