Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain

The topics of bilingualism, mind, and brain have come together in exciting new ways in recent years, in part because of the influence of Judith F. Kroll. In this article, we provide a biographical tour of Judy’s life and career. Our personal focus reflects the personal as well as intellectual and scientific impact Judy has had, training a generation of researchers in the field and organizing venues for the sharing of research by scores of investigators around the world, plus reaching out to the public to learn from and in turn contribute to their special needs and concerns related to bilingualism and multilingualism more generally. Coupled with these contributions have been core scientific advances related to bilingual learning, both with respect to the ways new languages get hooked up to first languages in the mind and brain and also with respect to the ways newly acquired languages affect the native language. Judy’s outreach has also promoted the advancement of women in cognitive science. All these contributions are covered in this special issue. In this article, we presage the coverage by providing an overview of the life and major career landmarks of the Festschrift honoree.