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Dustin Chacón to Santa Cruz

July 04, 2024 Linguistics

A young man in glasses standing outside, wearing a "Maryland Day" t-shirt, smiling at the camera.

Assistant Professor of Linguistics.

Three cheers for alum Dustin Chacón *15, who has been appointed Assistant Professor of Linguistics at UC Santa Cruz, joining Matt Wagers *08 as a Banana Slug.

At Maryland Dustin was supervised by Colin Phillips and wrote a dissertation on "Comparative Psychosyntax" with a committee of Colin, Ellen, Norbert and Howard. After graduating he spent a year as a Faculty Fellow at NYU, then three each as a Contract Assistant Professor at Minnesota and a Research Scientist in the Neuroscience of Language Lab at NYU Abu Dhabi. Then in 2023-2024 he was Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Georgia, before securing his new position at Santa Cruz.

Dustin is among eight 21st Century Terrapins to find his professional home at a university in California, joining not only Matt, but also Lisa Pearl *07 (Irvine), Tim Hunter *10 (UCLA), Alexis Wellwood *14 (USC), Laurel Perkins *19 (UCLA), Rodrigo Ranero *21 (UCLA), and (just this year) Rachel Dudley *17 (UCSD).