WUSTL linguist receives global education award

M.J. Warsi, PhD, a well-known linguist and researcher who teaches
linguistics and Indian languages at Washington University in St. Louis,
received the Inspirational Leadership Award at an international conference held recently at India International Centre, New Delhi.

Warsi

Warsi is a senior lecturer in South Asian languages and culture and a member of the Undergraduate Studies Committee in the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures in Arts & Sciences. He also received Washington University’s James E. McLeod Faculty Recognition Award for 2012.

Presented by the All India Conference of Intellectuals and the School of Educators, the Global Education Awards celebrate individuals and organizations making outstanding contributions to primary, secondary and higher education institutions in India and around the globe.

The prestigious academic honor is given to those who have positively and profoundly influenced the educational experiences of students.

Warsi’s citation described him as a “a silent worker whose practical
approach to teaching (a) subject changes the perspective of students towards the subject in the classroom environment. He has vast and enriching experience working with staff and students from diverse, cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds. He has generously given his time, expertise and support to (make) a difference in the lives of students.”

Warsi received the UP Hindi-Urdu Literary Award for 2011, was named an “unsung hero” by University of California, Berkeley, in 2005 and received a West Bengal Urdu Academy award on his book in 2003. Warsi was also awarded a $25,000 grant in 2010 by the South Asian Language Resource Center funded by the U.S. Department of Education to develop an online course curriculum for one of the South Asian Languages.

Warsi also has authored several books helping understand the efficacy of
the common contact in languages, culture and identity. Currently he is
working on a translation project on Premchand, the most celebrated writer of the Indian subcontinent. Warsi was in the news recently for his discovery of a new dialect in India.