Richard W. Bailey

Richard Weld Bailey, born October 26 1939, is a noted American linguist, scholar of the English language, and the Fred Newton Scott Collegiate Professor of English at the University of Michigan [http://www.umich.edu] in Ann Arbor.

Bailey was born in Pontiac, Michigan to Karl and Elisabeth (Weld) Bailey. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1961, having also studied for a year at the University of Edinburgh. He received his MA and Ph.D in English from the University of Connecticut in 1965.

Bailey is the author or editor or over 20 books, most treating aspects of English language history (in the U.S. and elsewhere) and linguistics. He has also authored over one hundred articles, both scholarly and popular and nearly that many reviews of scholarly works. Since 2003, he has written a regular column titled "Talking About Words" for the University of Michigan publication "Michigan Today" [http://michigantoday.umich.edu/] . A recent publication (co-edited with Colette Moore and Marilyn Miller) is "A London Provisioner's Chronicle 1550-1563 by Henry Machyn," an on-line edition of a recounting of daily life in sixteenth century London. [http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/machyn/] Through his teaching and mentorship, he has played an important part in advancing scholarship in the realm of language and linguistics -- and has either chaired or served on dozens of dissertation committees.

In addition to his research and teaching at the University of Michigan, Bailey has been involved for over 30 years in the governance and significant growth of the Washtenaw Community College, as noted below:

"Elected Trustee (1974-present)"
"Treasurer (1977-79), Secretary (1979-81)"
"Vice-Chair (1981-85), and Board Chair (1985-94, 1999-2000)"

He was named an honorary faculty member in 2002 and in 2005, his dedicated and indefatigable service to WCC was honored when the Richard W. Bailey Library] [http://www.wccnet.edu/resources/library/] was named for him.

Selected Professional Affiliations

Modern Language Association

"Numerous positions, 1970-present"

Dictionary Society of North America

"President (2001-2003)""Fellow (2005-present)"

American Dialect Society [http://www.americandialect.org/]

"Vice-President (1985-87), President (1987-89)"

American Council of Learned Societies

"Delegate (1996-99; 1999-2003)"

Selected Awards and Honors

University of Michigan Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, 1989
University of Michigan Regents' Award for Distinguished Public Service, 1992
University of Michigan Press Book Award, 1993, 1998
University of Michigan John H. D'Arms Faculty Award for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring in the Humanities, 2001

Selected Publications

"Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff"(University of Michigan Press, 2004)
"Images of English: A Cultural History of the English Language" (University of Michigan Press, 1991)
"Nineteenth Century English" (University of Michigan Press, 1998)
Associate Editor, "The Oxford Companion to the English Language" (Oxford University Press, 1992)
Editor, "Dictionaries: The Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America", 1978-1990

References and Citations

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