Rate My Professor Elly van Gelderen

Elly van Gelderen is Regents' Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at Arizona State University, where her work centers on linguistics, including syntax, historical linguistics, grammar, forensic linguistics, and typology. She began at ASU in 1995 as Assistant Professor, progressed to Associate Professor in 1998 and full Professor in 2002, achieved Regents' Professor status in 2008, and served until her retirement in 2023. During this time, she directed the Programs in Linguistics and TESOL from 2002 to 2015, managing curriculum development, student advising, course scheduling, admissions, and internship supervision. Before joining ASU, van Gelderen held a tenured position as "Universitair docent" (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in the Department of English at the University of Groningen from 1990 to 1995, was Visiting Assistant Professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario from 1989 to 1990, and Faculty Lecturer at McGill University's Department of Linguistics in 1989. She earned her Ph.D. in Linguistics from McGill University in 1986, M.A. in English Language and Literature from Utrecht University in 1981, and B.A. from Utrecht University in 1979.

Van Gelderen's scholarship explores syntactic change, grammaticalization, the linguistic cycle, verb meaning diachrony, and third factors in language evolution. She has authored key books such as The Linguistic Cycle: Economy and Renewal in Historical Linguistics (Routledge, 2023), Third Factors in Syntactic Variation and Change (Cambridge University Press, 2022), The Diachrony of Verb Meaning: Aspect and Argument Structure (Routledge, 2018), Syntax: An Introduction to Minimalism (John Benjamins, 2017), Clause Structure (Cambridge University Press, 2013), and The Linguistic Cycle: Language Change and the Language Faculty (Oxford University Press, 2011). Additionally, she has edited volumes including Internal and External Causes of Language Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, co-edited with Nikolaos Lavidas, Ioanna Sitaridou, and Alexander Bergs) and Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXII (John Benjamins, 2020). Her articles have appeared in journals such as Journal of Comparative German Linguistics, Linguistic Variation, and English Language and Linguistics. Recognized for mentorship, she received the Outstanding Doctoral Mentor Award in 2017, Distinguished Mentor of Women Award in 2004, and multiple Graduate Scholars of English Mentorship Awards from 1996 to 2000. Her research has garnered over 5,000 citations, shaping generative syntax and historical linguistics.