Philip Lieberman

Who is Philip Lieberman?

Philip Lieberman is a cognitive scientist at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Originally trained in phonetics, he wrote a dissertation on intonation. His career has focused on topics in the evolution of language, and particularly the relationship between the evolution of the vocal tract, the human brain, and the evolution of speech, cognition and language.

Lieberman initially studied electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctorate was in linguistics, with his dissertation completed in 1966. In the late 1950s and in the 1960s he worked as a research assistant at MIT before serving in the United States Air Force and also carrying out research there at the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories at Hanscom Air Force Base and also working at Haskins Laboratories. From 1967 to 1974 he worked at the University of Connecticut.

In 1974 he was appointed to the faculty at Brown University, where he was George Hazard Crooker Professor from 1992 to 1997. Since 1997 he has been the Fred M. Seed Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, and since 1999 he has been Professor of Anthropology, both at Brown University. Since 2012, when he retired from teaching,he has been The George Hazard Crooker University Professor, emeritus