On May 12th, 2017, Professor Bob Blust was awarded the Linguistics Lifetime Achievement in Research Award for his contributions to our understanding of human language, and the Austronesian language family in particular. The Vice Chancellor for Research of UH Manoa, Dr. Michael Bruno, presented Professor Blust with the award, noting the incredible quality and quantity of Professor Blust’s scholarship. His contributions to our understanding of a language family that is of such strategic importance to this university is of particular note: the Austronesian language family includes languages such as Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, Tagalog and Ilocano – languages of immense importance to the people of Hawaii.

Congratulations, and thank you for all that you have done and continue to do in the field!