Victor Friedman

Victor Friedman's many publications center on the languages of the Balkans and Caucasus, especially grammatical categories, language contact and language standardization. Owing to the intimate connections of language with politics and ethnic identity in these parts of the world, his work has of necessity been interdisciplinary. During the Yugoslav Wars of Succession he worked for the United Nations as a policy analyst in Macedonia and consulted for other international organizations including the International Crisis Group and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences,the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Republic of Albania, the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Kosova and Matica Srpska, and he holds the 1300 Years of Bulgaria Jubilee Medal. He is also the recipient of the 2009 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages.