Roland Grubb Kent

Roland Grubb Kent (February 24, 1877 - June 27, 1952) was an American educator and founder of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA). He was the first person to translate Marcus Terenty Varro's Lingua Latina into English. Ken's 1903 doctoral dissertation on the history of Thessaly traces the history of the country with particular attention to the times between 600 and 300 BC. Unfortunately, only chapter V and two appendices have been published, and most of his dissertation has now been lost. His old Persian language: grammar, texts, vocabulary is one of the fundamental works on this topic. Kent was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1877 in the family of Lindley Coates Kent and Anna Grabb Kent. Lindley Ken was an American Civil War officer and owner of successful lumber in Wilmington. Anna Kent was a descendant of John Grubb, an early settler in Delaware. After receiving a master's degree at Swartmore College in 1898, Roland Kent continued his classical education at the universities of Berlin and Munich, and then graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1903, Roland received his doctorate. with a dissertation on the history of Thessaly. Kent was appointed Greek and Latin instructor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1904, where he taught for the rest of his career. In 1909, he became an assistant professor of comparative philology, and in 1916 received the title of professor. From 1942 until his retirement in 1947, his title was Professor of Indo-European Linguistics. Kent was the founder of the LSA and served as treasurer from 1924 to 1942. He was elected president of the LSA in 1941.