Ryan Bochnak received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Chicago. His research interests lie mainly in linguistic semantics, with a strong focus on cross-linguistic variation, language documentation, and semantic fieldwork. Bochnak’s dissertation, "Cross-linguistic Variation in the Semantics of Comparatives," investigates the interpretation of comparative constructions (e.g. Joe is taller than Bill) in two understudied and typologically diverse languages, Luganda and Washo. Together with researchers at the University of Chicago, he is involved in the development of interactive electronic resources for the preservation, analysis, and teaching of the Washo language. As a Mellon Postdoctoral fellow in the Linguistics Department, Bochnak’s teaching will focus on natural language semantics from a cross-linguistic/typological perspective.