Linguist Willem Adelaar receives royal decoration
Linguist Willem Adelaar was appointed to Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion on October 1st. On that very same day he celebrated his 43-year connection to Leiden University. Adelaar has an impressive track record in the field of indigenous, and often endangered, Amerindian languages.
Linguist Willem Adelaar was appointed to Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion on October 1st. On that very same day he celebrated his 43-year connection to Leiden University. Adelaar has an impressive track record in the field of indigenous, and often endangered, Amerindian languages.
Research Profile Area
Officially professor emeritus as of 2013, Adelaar shows no sign of exhaustion as a guest employee. His unremitting commitment and passion led to the maturation of the scientific area which focuses on the study and documentation of endangered Amerindian languages, in South America as well. Largely thanks to him, Leiden now has its research profile area
Language Diversity in the World.
Recognition
In 2007, Adelaar received an Honorary Doctoraat from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima (Peru). He was also awarded with an Honorary Professorship by the Pontifica Universidat Catolica del Peru. Furthermore, he received an Advanced Investigator Grant from the European Research Council in 2012.
Without Adelaar, the discipline of Amerindian languages would not have become what it is now. And seeing as he provided the supervision for 29 PhD-students who now have completed their PhD dissertations, as well as currently supervising 3 postdocs and 19 PhD-students who are currently still pursuing their PhD, Adelaar ensures the continuity of this field.