In our Scholar Development program, emerging scholars (known as Pike Scholars) are mentored by established scholars (the Fellows of the Pike Center) as they practice the craft of scholarship. We now invite you to get to know each of them a little better.
Pike Center Fellows (N-Z)
The Fellows of the Pike Center are established scholars who are currently participating in Pike Center programs. Recognition as a Fellow is based on having a strong publishing record.
Fellow
Steve Nicolle
Steve is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Master of Arts in Linguistics and Translation program at the Canada Institute of Linguistics, Trinity Western University. He earned a D.Phil. in Linguistics from the University of York in 1996 and has done fieldwork in Kenya. His main research contributions have been in the areas of Bantu languages and discourse analysis. See publications.
Fellow
Steve Parker
Steve is among the core faculty in Applied Linguistics at Dallas International University. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2002, spending much of his career as a linguist in Peru. His main academic contribution has been in the area of phonology both as a researcher and teacher, but he has also had the unique opportunity of documenting two Amazonian languages which are now extinct. See publications.
Fellow
Mary Pearce
Mary is Associate International Linguistics Coordinator for SIL International. She earned a PhD in Linguistics from University College London in 2007 and has done fieldwork in Chad. Her main research contributions have been in the area of the phonology of Chadic languages. See publications.
Fellow
Kirk R. Person
Kirk R. Person is a Senior Literacy and Education Consultant with SIL International. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2000. Based in Thailand since 1988, he has conducted fieldwork, supervised PhD students, and collaborated with United Nations agencies. His research interests include language policy, multilingual education and advocacy. See publications.
Fellow
J. Stephen Quakenbush
Steve is Global Scripture Access Services Director for SIL International. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1986 and has done fieldwork in the Philippines. His main research contributions have been in the areas of sociolinguistics and community-based language development for Philippine languages. See publications.
fellow
R. Daniel Shaw
R. Daniel Shaw is Senior Professor of Anthropology and Translation, Fuller Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, and a Senior Anthropology Consultant, SIL International. He earned a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Papua New Guinea in 1976. Much of his research has focused on Christianity and folk religion, but also includes linguistic and anthropological studies. See publications.
Fellow
Gary F. Simons
Gary is the Chief Research Officer for SIL International and the Executive Editor of the Ethnologue; he is also serving as Director of Pike Center. He earned a PhD in Linguistics (with minors in Computer Science and Classics) from Cornell University in 1979 and has done fieldwork in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. His main research contributions have been in the areas of linguistic computing and cyberinfrastructure for linguistics. See publications.
Fellow
Keith W. Slater
Keith W. Slater is Director of the Summer Institute of Linguistics at the University of North Dakota. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1998 and has done fieldwork in Asia. His main research contributions have been in the areas of language contact and grammatical description. He also promotes satirical linguistics. See publications.
Fellow
Keith Snider
Keith is a Senior Linguistics Consultant for SIL International; he is also Affiliate Professor of Linguistics at Trinity Western University and Adjunct Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of North Dakota. He earned a Doctor of Letters in African Linguistics from Leiden University in 1990 and has done fieldwork in Ghana and Cameroon. His main research contributions have been in the areas of tone analysis, phonology, and historical-comparative linguistics of Africa. See publications.
Fellow
Barbara Trudell
Barbara is Director of Research and Advocacy for SIL Africa. She earned a PhD in International Education from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 and has done fieldwork in Peru and Kenya. Her main research contributions have been in the areas of language policy and the use of African languages in formal and non-formal learning contexts. See publications.
Fellow
Peter E. Unseth
Peter is Associate Professor of Applied Anthropology at Dallas International University. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2002 and has done fieldwork in Ethiopia. His main research contributions have been in the areas of sociolinguistics, scripts, and Ethiopian languages. See publications.
Fellow
Stephen Watters
Stephen Watters is a Research Director in the Corporate Research Office of SIL International, a role that entails, broadly speaking, investigating the relationship between language and human flourishing. He earned a PhD in linguistics from Rice University in 2018 and has done extensive fieldwork in the Southern Himalaya. His main linguistic research contribution has been in the areas of tone and descriptive linguistics in the Tibeto-Burman languages of that region. He is also interested in the relationship between language ecology and human flourishing. See publications.
Fellow
Ernst Wendland
Ernst Wendland, a former UBS translation consultant, is a visiting professor in the Dept. of Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and a graduate degree supervisor at South African Theological Seminary. His PhD is in African Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin (Madison). His primary research interests concern the literary-structural analysis and translation of biblical texts and those composed in SE Bantu languages. See publications.
Fellow
Cathryn Yang
Cathryn Yang is a faculty member at the Linguistics Department of Payap University, Thailand. She earned her PhD in linguistics from La Trobe University (Australia) in 2010 and has done fieldwork in China. Her main research contribution has been in the area of tone variation and change, particularly diachronic tone change in the Ngwi (Loloish) branch of Tibeto-Burman. See publications.
Fellow
Catherine Young
Catherine is Director of Global Language and Development Services for SIL International. She earned a PhD in Education from the University of Wales in 2011 and has done fieldwork in the Philippines. Her main research contributions have been in the areas of language policy and multilingual education. See publications.
Fellow
Lynell M. Zogbo
Lynell M. Zogbo is an author and editor with the United Bible Societies, following a thirty-year career with UBS as a translation consultant. She earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1979 and has done fieldwork in many countries of west Africa. Her main research contributions have been in the areas of west African linguistics and the translation of the Old Testament. See publications.