Lera Boroditsky

Lera Boroditsky was born in Belarus and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12, learning English as her fourth language. This early experience initiated her interest in how language shapes thought, a field she would later explore in depth. She pursued her academic career at Northwestern University, earning a B.A. in cognitive science in 1996, and subsequently obtained her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Stanford University in 2001, where she worked under Gordon Bower.

Dr. Boroditsky held faculty positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University before becoming a Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her work primarily focuses on the theory of linguistic relativity, investigating how the languages people speak influence their cognitive processes and perceptions of the world. She has conducted extensive cross-linguistic studies, comparing English with languages like Mandarin and Russian, to highlight differences in how speakers conceptualize time, space, and objects based on their linguistic structures. Her research has significantly contributed to understanding the impact of language on human cognition.

Her contributions have earned her recognition as a Searle Scholar, a McDonnell Scholar, and a recipient of the NSF Career award and the APA Distinguished Scientist lecturer. Boroditsky’s research has been featured in various media outlets and she regularly gives popular science lectures, making complex ideas about language and thought accessible to a broad audience. She was recognized as one of 25 Visionaries Changing the World by the Utne Reader.