LINGUIST List 9.754

Thu May 21 1998

All: Obituary--Floyd Lounsbury

Editor for this issue: Martin Jacobsen <martylinguistlist.org>

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1. whalen, All: Obituary--Floyd Lounsbury

 It is with immense sadness that we must report the death of our
friend and colleague, Floyd Lounsbury, on May 14th, 1998. Although he
had been in poor health for over a year, his indomitable spirit and
active research agenda led us to believe that he would pull through.
His passing is a great loss to colleagues in his many fields.
 Floyd was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, April 25, 1914. He
served as a master sergeant in the 22nd weather squadron as a
meteorologist in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He was a
graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. degree in
mathematics in 1941 and an M.A. in anthropology in 1947; he received
his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1949 in anthropology and an honorary
degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. He began teaching
at Yale University in 1947, retiring in 1979 as a Sterling Professor.
 A scholar in many fields, he made outstanding contributions to
linguistic theory and the study of American Indian Languages, of Mayan
hieroglyphic writing and of kinship systems. Among his many honors,
he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the
American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.
 Memorial contributions may be made to the Endangered Language Fund,
Dept. of Linguistics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.