Elissa L. Newport, professor of neurology, director of the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, and the director of the Georgetown University/MedStar National Rehabilitation Network has been selected to receive the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Dr. Newport is being honored for her research on human language acquisition.
The citation for the award states that Dr. Newport is being recognized “for her contributions to understanding the nature of human language, including the acquisition of spoken and visual language in both typically developing children and those developing in atypical environments; to characterizing critical periods for language learning; and to improving methods for language recovery after damage to the brain.” She will be presented with the award at a ceremony at the institute in April.
Dr. Newport joined the faculty at Georgetown University in 2012. Previously, she taught at the University of Rochester, the University of Illinois, and the University of California, San Diego. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.