When he was growing up in Senegal, Fallou Ngom spoke six languages. He has applied his fascination with language toward cultivating knowledge of, and respect for, a written derivative of Arabic script called Ajami. Although long ignored by colonial powers and the West, Ajami is found in villages all over Senegal, Guinea, and Niger, where it remains a leading written language of commerce, legal documents, journals, even poetry.
Now the role of the College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of anthropology and director of the University’s African Language Program in promoting Ajami has won him a 2011 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

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