Alumni Updates

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https://www.uff.ufl.edu/OnlineGiving/FundDetail.asp?FundCode=005087

If you would like to be listed on the Linguistics Alumni webpage please send us an email including your name, year of graduation and degrees along with a brief description of what you have been doing.
We'd love to hear from you!

email: jrgibbs@lin.ufl.edu

Jodi Bray (MA 1998, PHD 2001)
Jodi Bray is the Chief Linguist at AISE Solutions in Rosslyn, VA. She has worked for the last four years as the lead linguist for the State Department's CLASS namecheck system where she led the design of the Arabic and Russian-Slavic algorithms and is currently working on Indian namematching.

Moreblessing Chitaura (MA 1995)
Graduated from UF with an MA thesis on gender and language in Shona.  In 2004, I completed my PhD on a joint University of Zimbabwe-Universit of Oslo program, still on gender and language in Shona.  The project I worked for then has published the dissertation.

Steve Johnson (BA 1999)
Steve Johnson writes: After receiving my B.A. from UF, I entered the doctoral program at Michigan State University, where I'm now a studying sociolinguistics. My current research includes sociophonetics, gender and language, language and dialect contact, and perceptual dialectology. My doctoral dissertation examines to what extent individual personality traits influence one's progression in the Northern Cities Shift. It shows how a more subtle use of labels and traits within the framework of social psychology of language coupled with sociophonetic detail can help shed light on the role of sex and gender identity in ongoing linguistic change. Much of my previous work has been on the structure serial verb constructions and Bantu applicatives. In the future, I would like to expand my sociophonetic work to include issues in language and sexuality, and I'm also interested in syntactic variation.
john1362 AT msu DOT edu.

Brent Henderson (BA 1999)
Brent Henderson writes: University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania 1999-2000 on a Rotary scholarship Ph.D. in linguistics (specialization in syntax and Bantu languages) from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2006. Married to UF alumn Valerie Lopez in 2000, son Elijah born in 2004. Taught linguistics and Swahili at the University of Chicago, and, of course, joining the UF faculty in Fall 2006!

Hilary Hodge (MA 2006)
After graduating, Hilary Hodge ('06) moved up to New York to become the northeast U.S.  Linguistics/ ESL consultant to Oxford University Press.  She is enjoying applying her academic skills to the business world.

Luli Lopez-Merino (MA 2003)
Luli Lopez-Merino writes: After graduating in December, 2003, I went back to South Florida to look for gainful employment. In July, 2004, I started my career at Palm Beach Community College as an associate professor. I teach English for Academic Purposes, which is an advanced academic program designed for students who are L2 English speakers. In addition, I am the director of the new Women's Center on the Boca Raton campus, and the faculty advisor for the Spanish and Latino Student Association (SALSA). Last year, I became a homeowner! I live in a condo close to the college with my boyfriend Damion, who is a PhD student in Conservation Biology at Florida Atlantic University. This fall, I will begin taking courses towards a PhD in Higher Education Leadership. My contact information can be found on my student website, www.professorluli.com.

Debbie L. Wilson (MA 1999)
After graduating from the Linguistics Program, Debbie obtained a PhD in Pharmacy Health Care Administration (UF 2004).  She is now in her third year of a VA Health Services Research and Development Post Doctoral Fellowship.   Her research focuses on pharmacy technicians, patient-provider communications, and patient empowerment.  While her research career may seem removed from Linguistics, she has found her Linguistics background very important.  One of her current projects will develop web-based educational materials in English and Spanish for caregivers of veterans post-stroke.  Another will create a video script intended to activate patients to talk to their provider about stroke prevention therapy.  Best of all, Debbie and Scott were married in 2005, after “practicing” for 11 years!  They fish in their spare time. You can contact her at dwilson@cop.ufl.edu.