Ronnie Wilbur
Please join me in congratulating Ronnie Wilbur, professor of linguistics and speech, language, and hearing sciences on receiving the 2015 Purdue University Research and Scholarship Distinction Award. Ronnie’s groundbreaking research focuses on the linguistic structure of American Sign Language, as well as its perception and production by native deaf signers and its application to deaf education. As the 2015 awardee, she delivered the keynote address at the Purdue Research and Scholarship Distinction Distinguished Lecture in November.
Since her appointment at Purdue in 1980, Ronnie has dedicated her career to interdisciplinary research in sign language. She has received grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as the National Science Foundation to complete her work, and has won the Helen B. Schleman Gold Medallion Award, the Focus Award, and the Seed for Success award for sponsored research funding of $1 million or more. During her time at Purdue, she has also worked with Professor Nicoletta Adamo-Villani of the Purdue Polytechnic Institute to develop the software MathSigner, which uses 3-D animated signers to help students, parents, and teachers learn sign language for kindergarten through second grade math concepts.
Congratulations, Professor Wilbur!
David A. Reingold
Justin S. Morrill Dean
College of Liberal Arts