Publication: A Princeton Companion
Linguistics. The graduate Program in Linguistics, established in 1962, was built on a tradition that goes back to the first half of this century, when Harold H. Bender taught Indo-European philology, and Robert K. Root taught the Elements of the English Language (better known as ``Root's roots''). This tradition was later carried on by Giuliano Bonfante for Italian, Raymond S. Willis for Spanish, and Samuel D. Atkins for Indo-European, among others.
In the years following World War II, Princeton first responded to the growing interest in this field by inviting distinguished linguists to be visiting professors, and by appointing younger scholars with linguistic training to the language and literature departments. Then, in 1960, William G. Moulton was called from Cornell to organize a graduate program in linguistics, sponsored by the Council of the Humanities. An interdepartmental committee was established, and the program it proposed was approved in 1961 and first offered in 1962.
From the start, the Program in Linguistics was truly interdepartmental. Its students took modest numbers of courses in general linguistics, supplemented by the offerings of the nine cooperating departments: anthropology, classics, East Asian studies, English, Germanic languages, philosophy, psychology, Romance languages, and Slavic languages. Graduates of the program went on to assume positions in language departments or departments of linguistics.
Though the number of faculty members interested in linguistics was modest at the start, it expanded significantly during the 1960s. Special mention should be made of Albert H. Marckwardt, who came from Michigan in 1963 as Professor of English and Linguistics, and who played a leading role in the program until his retirement in 1972.
Thanks in part to Marckwardt's influence, by the 1970s there was a marked increase in both graduate and undergraduate interest in linguistics. The number of undergraduates choosing ``independent concentration'' in linguistics was often as large as the number of regular ``majors'' in some small departments. In order to strengthen the offerings in linguistics, two visiting professors were invited to Princeton in 1973-1974, and plans were made for a Department of Linguistics with a regular undergraduate major. These plans were frustrated by the economic difficulties that beset all American universities during the mid 1970s, though they remain a hope for the future -- a ``high priority'' once finances are available. In the meantime, Princeton has since 1974 had its first faculty appointments strictly in linguistics (rather than in one of the regular departments): two successive junior faculty members with specialization in syntax.
Though most members of the Interdepartmental Committee on Linguistics are known primarily for their work in related fields, two members have received national and international recognition directly within the field of linguistics. Marckwardt was president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1962, and of the American Dialect Society in 1962-1964. He was also president of the mammoth National Council of Teachers of English in 1967. In that same year, Moulton was president of the Linguistic Society of America; and, during 1972-1977, he was president of the international organization of linguists: the Comit� International Permanent des Linguistes. Princeton, through its linguists, continues to serve the nation -- and the world.
William G. Moulton
From Alexander Leitch, A Princeton Companion, copyright Princeton University Press (1978).