Haas, Mary R. (Mary Rosamond), 1910-1996

Linguist Haas began graduate work in Philology at the University of Chicago in 1930, but soon followed her advisor, Edward Sapir, to Yale. There, in 1935, she received her doctorate for an exacting descriptive analysis of Tunica, a linguistic isolate spoken in Louisiana, establishing what would become a life-long association with the Native American languages of the Southeastern United States. Eventually, Haas' research encompassed a wide array of languages from Tunica to Thai to the Athabascan and Muskogean languages and the Native American languages of California. As Professor of Linguistics at the University of California Berkeley, she exerted considerable influence over American linguistics both through her own work and through that of her numerous students. Among other honors bestowed upon her were membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

From the guide to the Mary Rosamond Haas papers, ca. 1930-1996, Circa 1930-1996, (American Philosophical Society)