BIO

Deborah Tannen is a Distinguished University Professor in the Linguistics Department at Georgetown University and author of many books and articles about how the language of everyday conversation affects relationships. Her book You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation was on the New York Times best seller list for nearly four years, including eight months as No. 1, and has been translated into 31 languages. This is the book that brought gender differences in communication style to the forefront of public awareness. Her books You Were Always Mom's Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives, and You're Wearing THAT?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation were also New York Times best sellers. Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work was a New York Times Business best seller. The Argument Culture: Stopping America's War of Words received the Common Ground Book Award; and I Only Say This Because I Love You: Talking to Your Parents, Partner, Sibs, and Kids When You're All Adults received a Books for a Better Life Award. Her most recent book is Finding My Father: His Century-Long Journey from World War I Warsaw and My Quest to Follow.

She has been a guest on such television and radio news and information shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Good Morning America, The Today Show, PBS NewsHour, Charlie Rose, Oprah, Hardball, Nightline, and many shows on CNN and NPR including Fresh Air, 1A, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and The Diane Rehm Show. She has been featured in and has written for most major newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, HuffPost, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, People, and The Harvard Business Review.

She has been McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University; spent a term in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey; and has twice been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford in Palo Alto, California. The recipient of five honorary doctorates, she is also an emeritus member of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors. She has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

In addition to her nine books for general audiences, Tannen is author or editor of sixteen books and over one hundred articles for scholarly audiences. She has also published poems, short stories, and personal essays. Her play "An Act of Devotion" is included in The Best American Short Plays 1993-1994. It was produced, together with her play "Sisters," by Horizons Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.