[Fwd: Professor William C. Stokoe, Jr.] (fwd)

[Leila Monaghan]

  A short obituary of Bill Stokoe from King Jordan, president of Gallaudet
  University.
>
> From: "I. King Jordan" <king.jordan at gallaudet.edu>
> Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2000 14:22:06 -0400
> To: King.Jordan at gallaudet.edu
> Subject: Professor William C. Stokoe, Jr.
> Message-ID: <C7C16A32224E52FB852568BA00639AF2.0064E68C852568BA at gallaudet.edu>
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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>
> I am saddened to inform you that Dr. William C. Stokoe, Jr., 80,
> Professor Emeritus at Gallaudet, died on April 4 at his home in Chevy
> Chase, MD, following a long illness.  Dr. Stokoe, who joined the
> Gallaudet English faculty in 1955, is widely recognized, both nationally
> and internationally, as the creator of the linguistic study of the sign
> languages of the deaf. His research led to the recognition that American
> Sign Language is a fully formed language.
>
> Dr. Stokoe's research, published works and personal advocacy led to
> widespread acceptance of the idea that ASL is an appropriate language of
> instruction for deaf students, and even that it is an appropriate second
> language for hearing students in high schools and universities in the
> United States.
>
> Following Dr. Stokoe's retirement from Gallaudet in 1984, he was named
> Professor Emeritus and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
> University in 1988.  He also received honorary doctorates from the
> University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Madonna University in Michigan.
> He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a
> member of the Cosmos Club of Washington, DC.
>
> In addition to his work on ASL, Dr. Stokoe was also one of a group of
> international scholars who led a revival of scientific interest in the
> origin and evolution of the human capacity for language.  He was
> actively writing and publishing up until the final few weeks of his
> life, and among his last works is the manuscript for a book, Language in
> Hand, that will be published later this year by Gallaudet University
> Press.
>
> Please join me in extending condolences to Dr. Stokoe's family who have
> asked that donations be made to the William C. Stokoe, Jr. Chair of
> Ethnographic Studies in Deaf Language and Culture, c/o Gallaudet
> University Office of Development, 800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
> 20002.
>
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