Richard W. Bailey
Richard W. Bailey, Ph.D., Fred Newton Scott Professor of English Language and Literature in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Richard W. Bailey attended Dartmouth College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1961. He then attended the University of Connecticut, where he earned his Doctorate in 1965. Professor Bailey joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as assistant professor in 1965 and was promoted through the ranks to professor in 1976.
Professor Bailey is one of the most distinguished and respected scholars in English language studies, a wide-ranging field in which Professor Bailey’s prolific publications represent pioneering work in an extraordinary number of areas. Professor Bailey is one of the pre-eminent cultural historians of the English language, as well as one of the leading experts on the use of English around the world. Professor Bailey is a highly accomplished scholar of lexicography, as well as a lexicographer himself. Throughout his career, Professor Bailey has also been deeply committed to developing more effective language arts curricula at all levels and fostering equal educational access and opportunities for speakers of all varieties of English, with all educational backgrounds. He is the author of three scholarly monographs, more than one hundred articles, and over seventy reviews; he has also edited more than ten books, including a ground-breaking hypertext edition of a Renaissance diary. His published work in these areas, cross-disciplinary to its core, is characterized by impeccable archival research and innovative methodologies, creating scholarship that is illuminating for scholars in linguistics, literature, history, education, and many other disciplines. In a world where the power of Standard English is not always questioned and the history of English not well understood, Professor Bailey has been a strong and much needed advocate for the recognition of “other Englishes,” the acceptance of multilingualism and language change, and the critical importance of linguistic tolerance.
As a teacher and mentor, Professor Bailey has always encouraged his students to explore the language they see and hear around them, to pursue innovative research using new technologies, and to apply their understanding of language variation and change to the central social, political, and educational questions of their generation. For his dedicated work as a graduate mentor, he was honored with the D’Arms Award in 2001. Professor Bailey’s career has also been distinguished by tireless service to the department, the college, and the profession, including serving as President of the American Dialect Society, President of the Dictionary Society of North America, and editor of the journal Dictionaries. Professor Bailey, a scholar and teacher of great energy, commitment, and erudition, has accomplished an extraordinary amount of work that has and will continue to make a social and intellectual difference inside and outside academia, as he helps his audiences realize and understand the power of language.
For more information take a look at Professor Bailey's website:
www-personal.umich.edu/~rwbailey/