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Birth
Avram Noam Chomsky was born December 7, 1928 in Philadephlia, Pennsylvania during The Great Depression. His parents Elsie & William were Russian Jewish immigrants. -
Elementary
Chomsky was enrolled in an experimental elementary school that emphasized student self-actualization. At the age of 10, Chomsky wrote an editorial for his school newspaper focusing on fascism in Europe and the fall of Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War. -
Beginning travels
At the age of 13, Chomsky began travelling by himself to New York City spending much of his time at his uncle's newsstand. He would read books from the community as well as listen to adults at the newsstand. -
University
At the age of 16, Chomsky enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. He studied for two years and was considering leaving school to pursue his political interests when he met Zellig S. Harris. Harris was a professor and would come to be one of the American founders of structural linguistics, whom also shared Chomsky's political views. -
Marriage
Chomsky married a woman he had known since childhood, Carol Schatz. She was an educational specialist. They were married for 59 years before she passed in 2008 of cancer. -
Thesis
In 1951, Chomsky adopted aspects of Harris's approach to the study of linguistics. As well as Goodman's views on formal systems and philosophy of science. Using these in his master thesis, "The Morphophonemics of Modern Hebrew" as well as "The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory (LSLT)". -
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Harvard
Harris recommended Chomsky study Philosophy with Nelson Goodman, Nathan Salmon and mathematician Nathan Fine. -
PhD
Chomsky received his PhD in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. -
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Professor
In 1955, MIT asked Chomsky to join their ranks as a professor until 2005 when he retired. He worked in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy, as well as a visiting professor at universities such as Columbia, Princeton, UCLA and Cambridge. During this time he introduced transformational grammar to the linguistics field.His theory is that languages are innate and that the parameters develop over time in our brain. -
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Writings
Chomsky's writings include:Current Issues in Linguistic Theory (1964), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965), The Sound Pattern of English (with Morris Halle, 1968), Language and Mind (1972), Studies on Semantics in Generative Grammar (1972), and Knowledge of Language (1986). -
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Remarried
Chomsky remarried Valeria Wasserman.
