In memoriam: Edward Mason Anthony Jr. (UM PhD, 1954)
We have recently learned of the passing of Michigan Linguistics alum (PhD 1954) and former faculty member, Edward Mason Anthony Jr. His daughter, Jan Anthony, reports the following:
"My father, Edward Mason Anthony Jr., died on July 12, 2015, at the age of 92. My father received three degrees at the University of Michigan: A BA in German language and literature in 1944, an MA in English language and literature in 1946 and a PhD in Linguistics in 1954. He joined the faculty as an instructor in 1945, which led to an associate professorship. In 1964, he left the University of Michigan to start what was then the Department of General Linguistics, now the Department of Linguistics, at the University of Pittsburgh, where he remained until his retirement in 1990. In addition to directing the Asian studies program at Pitt, he founded a number of language organizations there, including the Language and Culture Institute, the English Language Institute, the Less-Commonly Taught Languages Center and the Robert Henderson Language Media Center. He was also part of a group that founded what became the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). He traveled abroad extensively during his career to many locations including Afghanistan, Thailand, China and Singapore.
I am including several links to his obituaries, which describe his accomplishments and his philosophy of studying and teaching language as a means not only to understand speech, but also to understand cultures. He possessed a strong love of learning and a gentle sense of humor, which he maintained through nearly a decade of encroaching dementia. He was, for 69 years, the husband of Ann Terbrueggen Anthony (also a University of Michigan graduate). He was the father of three children—Lynn Anthony Higgins, Janice L. Anthony and Edward M. Anthony IV (Ted), and the grandfather of four grandsons—Julian Anthony Higgins, Matthew Anthony Sherry, Edward M. Anthony V (Mason) and Wyatt Dylan Kirk Anthony."
A selection of the links that Jan provided are given below. These links contain a wealth of information about Professor Anthony's many contributions to the language sciences during his long and illustrious career. Our thoughts are with Professor's Anthony's family and friends.
