Remembering Leonard “Aryeh” Faltz

Emeritus Professor Leonard “Aryeh” Faltz passed away on December 8, 2020. He taught at Arizona State University from 1979 until his retirement in 2005, first in the English Department and then in the Department of Computer Science/Engineering.

Faltz’s research included topics related to speech recognition with multiple redundancy resolution.

His publications consist of Reflexivization: A Study in Universal Syntax, and The Navajo Verb: A Grammar for Students and Scholars, as well as Boolean Semantics for Natural Language, published with E.L. Keenan. Faltz also wrote many journal articles and conference papers. 

After retirement, Faltz taught linguistics and mathematics at ASU and Scottsdale Community College. He spent his summers helping to preserve the Navajo language with the Navajo Language Academy in Window Rock, Arizona.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from The City University of New York, a master’s degree in mathematics from Harvard University and a doctorate in linguistics from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to his arrival at ASU, Faltz taught mathematics at Harvard, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts-Boston as well as linguistics at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Due to COVID restrictions, a memorial service will take place at a later date.