Kenneth Locke Hale
American linguist Kenneth Locke Hale (1934 – 2001), professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1967 – 2001) studied a variety of previously unstudied — often endangered — languages and developed a speaking knowledge of more than fifty, although he claimed he could only talk in English, Spanish and Warlpiri. His comparative work on a large number of languages of Cape York Peninsula in the early 1960s formed the basis of expert submissions for the Wik native title claim (1997) and made a significant contribution to its success.
Sources:
Australian National University: ANU Press: Kenneth Locke Hale: https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/authors-editors/kenneth-locke-hale
Los Angeles Times: Kenneth Hale, 67; Legendary Linguist: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-24-me-61058-story.html
MIT News: Kenneth L. Hale, linguist and activist on behalf of endangered languages, dies: https://news.mit.edu/2001/hale
The Guardian: Obituary: Kenneth Hale: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/nov/10/guardianobituaries.obituaries
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_L._Hale
