Linguistics Department Head Keith Langston named University Professor

Dr. Keith Langston was honored this week for his "influential vision and leadership" and "significant impact on UGA" with the title of 2023-2024 University Professor alongside Dr. Paula Lemons, Professor and Associate Dean of Franklin College. 

“Throughout their years of dedicated service at UGA, Drs. Langston and Lemons have set themselves apart for their visionary leadership and innovative contributions,” said S. Jack Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “They embody the spirit of excellence in teaching, research and service that distinguishes the University of Georgia.”

Dr. Langston's many accomplishments were recognized in an article on February 26th in the UGA Columns:

"For the past 28 years, Langston has shown exemplary commitment to UGA’s mission through his teaching and mentorship, curricular development and academic leadership. During his tenure as Russian language program coordinator in the department of Germanic and Slavic studies, Langston helped to create the A.B. Russian degree program and made numerous other curriculum improvements.

“Dr. Langston’s thoughtful, enthusiastic piloting of our Russian language course offerings was instrumental in UGA’s successful bid to host one of the nation’s eight Russian Flagship Programs,” said Charles Byrd, senior lecturer in the Franklin College department of Germanic and Slavic studies. “Our Russian Flagship Program is currently the nation’s largest and by many measures the most successful.”

Langston was deeply involved in the development of the linguistics program and led its transition to a department in 2017. As department head since then, he has facilitated the renovation of the department’s Linguistics Laboratory, served as undergraduate coordinator, developed an undergraduate research fund and promoted transparency and collaboration throughout the department.

Langston’s impact is also felt in the classroom. He was an early adopter of instructional technology and has a track record of creating interactive online exercises and supplementary materials to bolster student engagement and promote active learning.

Throughout his career, he has also been active in research. His first book, “Čakavian Prosody” (2006), is a standard reference in studies of Slavic accentuation and Croatian. In fall 2022, Langston and his colleagues were awarded a three-year $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for their study of endangered languages on the Istrian peninsula of Croatia and the Kvarner Bay region in the Northern Adriatic Sea."

Congratulations to Dr. Langston on this well-deserved honor!