35.1127, All: Obituary for Margaret E. Winters (1947 - 2024)

Tue Apr 2 15:05:03 UTC 2024

LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1127. Tue Apr 02 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.1127, All: Obituary for Margaret E. Winters (1947 - 2024)

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Date: 03-Apr-2024
From: Malgosia Cavar [justin at linguistlist.org]
Subject: Obituary for Margaret E. Winters (1947 - 2024)

The LINGUIST List Moderators and staff mourn the death of Dr. Margaret
E. Winters, who passed away unexpectedly on February 6, 2024 in Grosse
Pointe, at age 76.  Margaret (Maggie) Winters was well-known in the
discipline as a researcher in cognitive and historical linguistics, as
well as a distinguished professor and former Provost at Wayne State
University.  She was also an active and generous friend of the
LINGUIST List almost from its inception.

Born in New York, Maggie attended New York City public schools and the
local Sholem Aleichem Folkshul in Brooklyn, where she learned to read
and write Yiddish, something that she cherished all her life. She
received her BA in French from Brooklyn College in New York, and her
MA in French from the University of California, Riverside in
California.  Later, she moved back East to Philadelphia, where she was
awarded one of the last doctorates given in Romance Philology from the
University of Pennsylvania.

In 1977, she secured a tenure-track job as Professor of French at
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; and in the late 1980s, she
was appointed Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and
Literatures there, and served in that role until 1994, when she was
promoted to be SIU’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Shortly thereafter, she was named University Provost.

Despite her busy career as an administrator, she continued to work and
publish in philology and later in more prototypical historical
linguistics. She became one of the first linguists to apply the
emerging theory of Cognitive Grammar to Historical Linguistics. Her
2020 textbook, Historical Linguistics: A cognitive grammar
introduction, is widely used in colleges and universities worldwide,
as is her 2020 Cognitive Linguistics for Linguists, which she
co-authored with her husband, Dr. Geoffrey Nathan.

In 2002, Maggie was invited to take up the position of Associate
Provost for Academic Affairs at Wayne State University. After several
years as Associate Provost, she returned to her home department of
Romance Languages. Shortly thereafter she was tasked with merging the
four independent language departments to create Wayne State’s
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. She served as Chair
of that department for several years (2012-2017), and was eventually
asked to resume the Associate Provost position, and then later serving
for several years as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

A generous supporter of LINGUIST List from its beginnings, Margaret
was a founding member of the original LL Advisory Board, an informal
group of approximately 50 linguists worldwide, which advised the
Linguist moderators on policy decisions, new services, and
fund-raising. Not only did Maggie and Geoff generously support the
annual LL Fund Drive, but every year, without fail, Maggie urged other
Advisors to write letters of support, to recognize donors at their
institutions, and to bring LL services to the attention of their
academic departments. Her eloquent letters of support were
incorporated into many LINGUIST grant proposals, as she had a keen
scholar-administrator’s eye for new enterprises that would be of
genuine benefit to our field and profession.

In 2013, LINGUIST List left Eastern Michigan University, LINGUIST List
was incorporated, and the eLinguistics Foundation (eLF) was founded as
a 501c non-profit corporation, to safeguard LINGUIST List’s
intellectual property.  The first President of the Board of Directors,
Dr. Terry Langendoen, served until 2019, after which Maggie assumed
the presidential duties.

In addition to her devotion to LINGUIST List, Maggie served as a board
member for many charitable enterprises, such as the Detroit Chamber
Winds and Strings and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. From her
experience in these roles, she brought her considerable insights in
the management of non-profits to bear on the operation of the
eLinguistics Foundation.

Throughout her career, Maggie was an inspiration to students, as well
as an ever-helpful resource for those planning academic careers. Many
LINGUIST staffers profited from her advice; and she remained a mentor
to many long after their student days ended.  She remained closely
involved with former students and with LINGUIST operations until a
scant few days before her death.  Her constructive influence will be
missed here and in numerous other academic and civic realms.  And she
will be remembered with great admiration and fondness by all who had
the good fortune to know her.

The funeral service, held February 29 at Hebrew Memorial Chapel, is
accessible online at https://www.hebrewmemorial.org/obituaries/Margare
t-Winters-7/#!/PhotosVideos

Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable

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