Psych. Professor To Join Faculty

An expert in the understanding and production of language has accepted a tenure offer in the psychology department.

Alfonso Caramazza, professor of psychology at Dartmouth and adjunct professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School, said last night he has accepted a professorship.

"I'm very excited about joining the faculty of Harvard," Caramazza said. "It has the reputation of having some of the very brightest undergraduates."

Caramazza said his research focuses on studying language dysfunctions in brain-damaged subjects.

Professor of Psychology Patrick Cavanaugh said Caramazza's area of specialization will be an important addition to the department.

"He does psycholinguistics--the study of understanding and production of language," Cavanaugh said.

"It's a field that's really central to human cognition--very volatile," Cavanaugh said. "Alfonso is at the top of this and we don't have the resources in psycholinguistics. He's really the capstone to our recent rebuilding of the experimental [psychology] side of the department."

Caramazza said he hopes to come to Harvard at the end of July.

Caramazza said he will begin teaching a graduate-level course in the fall on the neuropsychology of language. In the spring, he plans to teach an undergraduate course that he is currently designing on cognitive neuropsychology.

Caramazza said he has been thinking about designing a course on the psychology of written language, but "I'd like to discuss with my new colleagues what the department's needs are."

Caramazza, 48, was born in Italy. He graduated from McGill University in 1970, and received both his masters and doctorate from Johns Hopkins in 1972 and 1974, respectively.

He rose through the ranks and became a full professor at Johns Hopkins in 1987.

He served as chair of the department of cognitive science from 1987 to 1993, when he left for Dartmouth.