Dr. Bernard Spolsky
Dr. Bernard Spolsky came to UNM in 1968 as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Elementary Education. During his time at UNM, he created and conducted the Navajo Reading Study; this project aimed to study the language and to develop materials for Navajo literacy programs. He also hired UNM’s first Navajo language teacher, Irene Silentman. Spolsky played an integral role in founding both the Navajo Language Project at UNM and the Department of Linguistics, which would later incorporate the NLP.
Roseann Willink
Roseann Willink came to UNM in 1980 as a visiting Navajo instructor. She helped lead the Navajo Language Program for many years, guiding it from being within the Department of Modern Languages to its current home within the Department of Linguistics. She was also instrumental in creating the Navajo Language minor for undergraduates in 2003. Roseann retired with honors in Spring 2009, after 30 years with the NLP.
Dr. Robert W. Young
Dr. Robert W. Young first came to UNM to study Navajo as a graduate student. While here, he met William Morgan, Sr., at the Southwest Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory near Ft. Wingate; together, they began, at the behest of J. P. Harrington, to work on an orthography and dictionary for the Navajo language. The two worked together for many years at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and later at UNM as part of the NLP. They published a newspaper written in Navajo, Ádahooníłígíí, and authored the two definitive dictionaries of Navajo, The Navajo Language (1980, 1987) and Analytical Lexicon of Navajo (1992). Robert Young also wrote The Navajo Verb System (2000). Young was honored by both the Navajo Nation Council in 1995 and by UNM in 2005 for his work in studying and supporting the Navajo language. UNM granted Young an honorary PhD for his efforts.
William Morgan, Sr.
William Morgan Sr. worked for many years with Dr. Robert W. Young documenting the Navajo language and developing materials. Their work culminated in the creation of two crucial dictionaries, The Navajo Language (1980, 1987) and Analytical Lexicon of Navajo (1992). Morgan was also hired by Bernard Spolsky in the 1970s to be a visiting professor of Navajo at UNM. Morgan was eventually honored by the Navajo Nation Council in 1995 for his lifelong work with the Navajo language.1
Sally Midgette Anderson
While pursuing her PhD in Anthropology at UNM, Sally Midgett Anderson worked with Young and Morgan to co-author the book Analytical Lexicon of Navajo (1992). Her dissertation, The Navajo Progressive in Discourse: A Study in Temporal Semantics, was also published as a book in 1995.
Alyse Neundorf
Alyse Neundorf taught Navajo at UNM and wrote two books published by UNM Press; these were the titles A Navajo/English Bilingual Dictionary: Áłchíní Bi Naaltsoos (2005) and Navajo/English Dictionary of Verbs (2006).2
Irene Silentman
Irene Silentman was the first Navajo language teacher at UNM, hired by Dr. Bernard Spolsky as part of the Navajo Reading Study.
- Photo Credit: Dinwoodie, David W. & Morgan, William. 2003. William Morgan (1917-2001): Navajo Linguist. Anthropological Linguistics. [Anthropological Linguistics, Trustees of Indiana University] 45(4). 426–449. jstor.org/stable/30028911 ↩︎
- Photo Credit: Navajo Language Academy ↩︎