Salzmann, Zdenek

Zdeněk Salzmann, a leader in the field of anthropological linguistics, was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on October 18, 1925. He was educated at Charles University in Prague receiving a degree in 1948. He then moved to the United States to attend Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he secured an MA in 1949 and a PhD in 1963. His fields of study were linguistic anthropology and Czech and Slovak studies.

For the greater part of his academic career, Dr. Salzmann has been employed as an anthropology professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has been associated with that university since 1968, becoming a full professor in 1974. Prior to that, he was the executive director of the Verde Valley School in Arizona, 1963-1966, and head of the anthropology program at the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, 1966-1968.

His primary research interests focus on American Indian linguistics, Czech and Slovak languages and cultures, and Czech settlements in Romania. Many of his works may be borrowed from Coe Library or viewed at the American Heritage Center as part of the Hebard Collection. (See Appendix 2 for a complete listing of his publications.)

His study of the Arapaho language began in 1949, when a faculty member in the Sociology Department at Indiana University suggested it for Salzmann's thesis work. Salzmann traveled to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming for the summers of 1949, 1950, 1952, 1961, and 1962 where the project was conducted. In 1963 he finished his thesis entitled "A Sketch of Arapaho Grammar."

During his distinguished career, Professor Salzmann has received numerous grants from the American Philosophy Society, International Research and Exchange Building, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Institute of Mental Health. He was a visiting professor at the University of Freiburg in Germany in 1970, and taught for Semester at Sea in 1982. He has also been a consultant for the National Bilingual Materials Development Center located at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. He lead Arapaho language and Cultural Workshops at the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and was a Fulbright Hays Scholar.

Dr. Salzmann is married and has three children.

From the guide to the Zdeněk Salzmann Arapaho Indian research papers, 1851-1986, 1949-1986, (University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.)