Gennaro Chierchia

Gennaro Chierchia (born 10 September 1953) is an Italian linguist and Haas Foundation professor of linguistics at Harvard University. He is considered one of the world's leading formal semanticists. His work and study focus on areas including semantics, pragmatics, philosophy of language, and language pathology.
Career and education.
Chierchia began his professorial career when he served as an assistant professor of linguistics at Brown University from 1983–1985. He then continued as an assistant professor at Cornell University from 1985–1992, before moving back to his native Italy. From 1992–2000, he taught as a full professor at the University of Milan Bicocca, including a year at the University of Salerno from 1994–1995. 
Chierchia received his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Rome in 1977. He went on to receive a Ph.D in Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1984, where he studied under Barbara Partee. His dissertation was titled "Topics in the Syntax and Semantics of Infinitives and Gerunds."