Noam Chomsky, Father Of Modern Linguistics, Joins University Of Arizona

TUCSON, AZ — Noted social commentator Noam Chomsky at 88 years old is joining the University of Arizona this month as a faculty member in its linguistics department.

Chomsky, who has authored more than 100 books, will begin teaching part time next year. He will be a laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics and will chair an environmental and social justice program.

Chomsky has regularly spoken and taught courses at the school in the past. He is considered a pioneer of modern linguistics and a hero to many liberals who admire his political writings. He is the subject of seven biographies and has appeared in more than 20 movies and documentaries. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

His legacy took on even more prominence in the acclaimed 2016 movie "Captain Fantastic" starring Viggo Mortensen, in which a family living off the grid in the Pacific Northwest celebrates "Noam Chomsky Day" instead of Christmas.

"Chomsky established modern linguistics. He's an awe-inspiring thinker," Natasha Warner, head of the Department of Linguistics, said in a news release. "The opportunity for UA linguistics students to learn from him on a regular basis is simply astounding."

Chomsky revolutionized the linguistics field by developing the "Chomsky hierarchy," a grammar concept. He found that all human speech is based on the natural structure of the brain.

Chomsky told the university that he fell in love with Tucson's mountains and desert and that it has "an atmosphere that is peaceful and manageable."

Welcome, Professor Chomsky! #NoamChomsky https://t.co/tJJF4ZOSrI
— Univ. of Arizona (@UofA) August 17, 2017

Photo credit: Hatem Moussa/Associated Press