William Stokoe

William C. Stokoe, Jr. ( ; July 21, 1919 in New Hampshire – April 4, 2000 in Chevy Chase, Maryland), a long-time professor at Gallaudet University, was one of the most significant linguists of the 20th century. His pioneering research on American Sign Language (ASL) revolutionized the understanding of ASL in the United States and sign languages throughout the world and had a profound impact on deaf culture, deaf education, and sign language teaching and interpreting. Stokoe's work led to a widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages, exhibiting syntax and morphology, and are not mere systems of gesture. This work thus redefined "language" itself, and influenced thinking in theoretical linguistics, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, neural studies, and even jurisprudence.