Cecile McKee
Professor Emerita of Linguistics
University of Arizona
Cecile McKee
Professor Emerita of Linguistics
University of Arizona
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Professor Emerita of Linguistics
University of Arizona
My life as a linguist began in Bolivia and Chile, where I saw different K-12 students take similar paths to language learning. I earned a PhD in linguistics next (U of Connecticut, 1988), followed by postdoctoral research on typical and atypical language (U of Arizona & Italy, 1988-1991). Studying language learning with the scientific method brought me to Noam Chomsky's ideas about language universals. My focus as a professor at the U of Washington and then the U of Arizona was cross-language comparisons of children's grammatical knowledge and literacy development. I also studied fluency in order to better understand factors underlying the errors in typically-developing children's speech.
An important detour along my way was directing the Linguistics Program at the National Science Foundation (2001-03). That experience helped me appreciate the foundation's commitment to the "broader impacts" of its funding. I returned to the U of Arizona after my time in DC with expertise in research administration and a deeper appreciation of informal science learning.
My main colleagues
My main colleagues
Laura Wagner, Ohio State University [Google Scholar; ResearchGate]
Dana McDaniel, University of Southern Maine [Google Scholar; ResearchGate]
Merrill F. Garrett, University of Arizona [ResearchGate]
Sam Supalla, University of Arizona [ResearchGate]
Selected grants and other awards
Selected grants and other awards
Linguistic Society of America: Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award (with Laura Wagner, Ohio State University), 2024
American Association for the Advancement of Science: Fellow, 2021 [U of Arizona News]
U of Arizona Office of Student Engagement: $13,512 grant to fund museum-based course for undergraduates (with Autumn Rentmeester, Children’s Museum Tucson), 2015-16
The OpEd Project: Tucson Public Voices Fellowship, 2014-15
U of Arizona Disability Resource Center: Faculty Fellow, 2010-11
National Science Foundation: $462,759 grant to fund research on language in typically developing children (with Dana McDaniel, U of Southern Maine; and Merrill Garrett, U of Arizona), 2008-16
U of Arizona Office of the Provost: General Education Teaching Award, 2000
James S. McDonnell Foundation: $542,988 grant to study literacy development in deaf children (with Sam Supalla, U of Arizona), 1998-03
Fulbright Program: Student fellowship 1986-87 in Parma, Italy; postdoctoral fellowship 1990-91 in Parma and Bologna, Italy
Phi Beta Kappa, 1976
Selected professional memberships
Selected professional memberships
Planet Word Museum: Advisory Board, 2016-present
Society for American Sign Language Journal: Editorial Advisory Board, 2019-present
Revista de Logopedia, Foniatría, y Audiología: Editorial Board, 2019-present; Scientific Committee, 1998-2019
Accessible and/or usually funny linguistics
Accessible and/or usually funny linguistics
Language Log: Linguists writing a blog about whatever they want
Lingthusiasm: A podcast about linguistics
Talk the Talk: A (formerly) weekly show about linguistics, the science of language
The Ling Space: An educational YouTube channel all about linguistics
The Linguistics Roadshow: Interactive resources about the science of language
Unravel: The Accessible Linguistics Magazine
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