Clifford A. Hill, Arthur I. Gates Professor of Language and Education Emeritus at Teachers College, died on December 19, 2025 at the age of 85. Professor Hill was also Founding Chair of TC’s Department of International and Transcultural Studies (ITS) and Director of the Program in African Languages at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he taught the Hausa language. 

“Professor Clifford Hill was a tremendous scholar, and a cherished colleague, mentor and friend, whose research and teachings have made significant contributions in the fields of linguistics, literacy and assessments in education,” reflected Teachers College President Thomas Bailey. “One of my strongest memories from my early years at TC was his reassuring support and friendship. He will be greatly missed, and on behalf of the entire TC community, I extend heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.”

A deeply respected and beloved member of the Teachers College community for more than three decades, Professor Hill inspired colleagues and students alike through his leadership, scholarly work and teaching. He joined the College in 1972 as Director of the Program in Applied Linguistics, with a research focus on the Hausa language in Nigeria and Niger, where he and his family lived at various times while Professor Hill conducted research. Professor Hill held this leadership position until 1997, in addition to engaging in numerous other administrative roles at the College, including service on the Bilingual Research Committee in the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, today the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study; as Chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Social Studies; and as Executive Board Member of the Klingenstein Program for Independent Schools. In 1994, President Emeritus Arthur Levine charged Professor Hill with creating, naming and leading a new International and Transcultural Studies Department (ITS), with a mission to address global challenges of equity, peace, human rights and sustainable development in education. Professor Hill served as the Founding Chair of ITS from 1997 to 2001.

In terms of scholarship, Professor Hill’s research was innovative and recognized throughout the United States and abroad. His research interests included cultural variation in how language represents spatial and temporal point of view, how children interact with reading tests, and alternative approaches to assessment with attention to the emerging role of digital technologies. These broad research interests enabled Professor Hill to generate funding from numerous esteemed entities, including: the National Science Foundation; the National Institute of Education; the National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum, and Assessment; the Fulbright-Hays Commission and the Social Science Research Council, as well as by private foundations such as the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. In addition, he was a research fellow at various institutions abroad such as the Max Planck Institut für Psycholinguistik in Germany and the Institut Nationale de Recherches Pédagogiques in France.

Professor Hill’s sociolinguistic research on African languages and cultures led to dozens of articles, papers and publications in such fields as oral culture, literacy studies, multilingualism, and bilingual education. In particular, he published widely on ways in which the resources of oral culture can be used in language and literacy development. His psycholinguistic research on language, space and time was translated into various languages and published in academic journals and books in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia. His books on language and literacy assessment most notably included From Testing to Assessment: English as an International Language and Children and Reading Tests, coauthored with Eric Larsen. Also among his assessment contributions was a project with the College Board that explored how technology could be used to transform assessment, with particular attention to ensuring greater equity for culturally diverse students.

Professor Hill also collaborated with Hervé Varenne, TC’s Gardner Cowles Professor of Anthropology and Education, on several publications focused on the interpretation of language use in families. Professor Hill’s proposal in the early 2000s, “A Transcultural Approach to Contemplative Practices: Traditional Resources and Contemporary Educational Benefits” earned him a Contemplative Practice Fellowship, which was funded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Fetzer Institute, and administered by the American Council of Learned Societies. 

Professor Hill also held a deep love of poetry throughout his life; he wrote his master’s thesis on irony in Thomas Hardy’s poetry and actively published poetry as well as work in literary stylistics.

Besides excelling in research, Professor Hill was a consummate educator; he took very seriously the role of applying the field of linguistics to educational questions and pedagogy. His research informed the courses, workshops and seminars he offered in language and literacy at Teachers College, inspiring scores of masters and doctoral students, who today as professionals carry on the work of conducting research and/or preparing future teachers in universities and other educational settings throughout the U.S and around the world. Professor Hill also served widely as a consultant to numerous language and literacy programs for organizations ranging from independent schools and public school districts to the United States Information Service and Children’s Television Workshop as well as in many other parts of the world, especially in Africa and Asia. For example, he collaborated with scholars at Beijing University to develop an English language curriculum and assessment to support Chinese students using the Internet to conduct research within their major fields of study, and he served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China. 

In retirement, Professor Hill continued to conduct research on cultural variation in the ways in which language represents space and time. In 2010, he delivered the Lawrence Cremin Lecture, “Educational Research: The Challenge of Using an Academic Discipline.” His incredible career can be summarized with his own words taken from the lecture: Noting early struggles in integrating his expertise in linguistics with educational research, he expressed “gratitude to John Dewey for emphasizing the importance of personal experience in teaching and learning. . . . Gradually I became aware that [my] research could be strategically used in preparing teachers to observe more carefully how students use language in multicultural classrooms. As teachers develop the skill of close observation, they become increasingly aware of the subtle effects of culture upon language use, and this awareness can have transformative effects upon their teaching. . . . A seemingly simple discovery that I made while teaching Hausa opened up a much larger world. . . . There are more mysteries in language than are dreamt of in linguistics.”

Professor Hill earned a Ph.D. in African Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin, an M.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and a B.A. in Philosophy from Wheaton College. A linguistically gifted individual, Professor Hill spoke Hausa and French fluently and also had a command of Berber, Fulfulde, German, Greek and Swahili. 

Professor Hill is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and three daughters: Kathleen, Elizabeth and Sarah.