David Lightfoot is Dean of the Graduate School for Arts and Sciences and Professor in the Department of Linguistics. Prior to his appointment as dean at Georgetown, Lightfoot served as professor of linguistic science at the University of Maryland, College Park and chair of the Department of Linguistics.

An established linguistics scholar, Lightfoot has published eight books, will publish two more this year, and has been asked by Cambridge University Press to edit the four-volume Cambridge Survey of Linguistics. He also is author of more than 60 articles or book chapters.

His honors include invitations to deliver named lectures at home and abroad and a Fulbright Scholarship, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, three National Science Foundation research grants, and several University of Maryland research awards.

Prior to his positions at the University of Maryland, Lightfoot held appointments at the University of Michigan, McGill University, and the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and he has held visiting appointments at the University of Michigan and institutions in Austria, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Lightfoot received his bachelor's degree from the University of London, King's College, and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan.