The Department of Linguistics is delighted to announce that Andries Coetzee was promoted to Professor of Linguistics, with tenure, on May 17. Less than one week later, LSA Dean Andrew D. Martin announced that Andries was chosen as the recipient of the 2018 John Dewey Award.

The John Dewey Award is given by the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) Executive Committee for ongoing commitment to the education of undergraduate students within the Department of Linguistics. In his notification letter, Dean Martin said the following:

“We take great pleasure in naming a very small number of Dewey Award winners, noting their particular distinction among the strong group of faculty members recommended for promotion from associate to full professor with tenure. Dewey winners are considered to model the full range of John Dewey’s own considerable talents: scholarly productivity, provision of leadership, and engagement with and care for students.”

Andries, who is originally from South Africa, joined U-M Linguistics in 2006 following two years as a visiting assistant research professor. Since then, he has been an integral member of the Linguistics faculty. Andries conducts research in the areas of speech processing and phonological theory, regularly advises students in their research, and teaches phonetics/phonology at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

In addition, Andries is the Associate Director of the African Studies Center at U-M. He is also very involved with the Linguistic Society of America, for whom he has co-directed the 2013 Linguistic Institute, and served as chair of the program committee (overseeing the organization the LSA Annual Meeting). He is editor of the LSA's flagship journal, Language. He was inducted as a fellow of the LSA in 2015. He also maintains close ties with his home university in South Africa (the North-West University) where he holds the title of Extraordinary Professor.

Congratulations, Andries, on this well-deserved recognition!

See the complete list of promotions, approved by the U-M Board of Regents on May 17.