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Gary Libben, PhD, FRSC

1952–2025

• Chair, Linguistics 1993–1997, 2001–2003
• Associate Dean of Research 1997–2000
• Associate VP, Research, University of Calgary
• Vice President Research Brock University
• Chair, Applied Linguistics, Brock University

Gary was a force majeure in the department—he always embraced big visions, ran big projects and inspired many students
–Johanne Paradis

Gary Libben passed away on April 30, 2025 after a long battle with cancer. Gary was hired into the Department of Linguistics in 1993 as Chair, during a time of cutbacks and financial crisis. His successful resistance to pressures to fold Linguistics into another, larger unit fostered a new department culture of independence and leveraging external funding to finance research and graduate education that has persisted to this day. After Gary’s first term as Chair, he served a term as Associate Dean of Research for the Faculty of Arts before returning for another three-year term as Chair of Linguistics.

During his second chairship, Gary received the first CFI grant ever held in the Faculty of Arts for the Centre for Comparative Psycholinguistics, a leading research centre that continues to involve literally thousands of students in research every year. Gary was also the recipient of a 2002 SSHRC MCRI, “Words in the Mind, Words in the Brain,” worth $2.5 million. In the same period, he co-founded the journal The Mental Lexicon, which is now in its 19th volume. In 2008, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada.

In 2010, Gary left the PGµç×Ó¹Ù·½ÍøÕ¾ to take up the position of Associate VP of Research at the University of Calgary, and in 2011 was head-hunted for the position of VP Research at Brock University. After his term as VP expired, Gary elected to return to the professoriate and joined Brock’s Department of Applied Linguistics, serving both as a faculty member and as Chair. In 2018, he received the Canadian Linguistics Association’s National Achievement Award and served as the Director of the Humanities Division of the RSC Academy of Arts and Humanities. In 2019, was elected as a Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Gary was a brilliant mentor and much loved by his students. His passion for teaching and research, his fundamentally gentle nature, and the jelly beans in his office will be remembered by us all. He is survived by his wife and two children.