16 Facts About Ernest Bender

Ernest Bender was a Professor of Indo-Aryan languages and literature at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ernest Bender was admitted into the selective Greek and Latin program of Boys High School, and graduated in 1937.

Ernest Bender undertook his undergraduate studies at Temple University where he continued his studies in classics, firmly entrenching his lifelong interest in philology and cultural history.

Shortly after the United States declared war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Ernest Bender was drafted into the United States Air Force, but was discharged from active duty for medical reasons.

Ernest Bender then returned to Philadelphia, serving from 1943 to 1944 as an instructor of Hindi and Urdu in the Army Specialized Training Program.

From 1944 until 1946, Ernest Bender coordinated the Army Specialized Training Program in Japanese.

Ernest Bender was awarded a Rockefeller fellowship from 1947 to 1948, visiting India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Ernest Bender became an assistant professor in 1950, in a joint appointment with the Oriental Studies Department.

Ernest Bender was elevated to associate professor with tenure in 1958, and became a professor in 1967.

In 1958, Ernest Bender began a three decade editorial relationship with the American Oriental Society; he began as associate editor and became the chief editor in 1964, a post he held until 1988.

Ernest Bender served as the president of the AOS from 1993 to 1994.

Ernest Bender served as the vice-president of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, and convened the 6th World Sanskrit Conference in Philadelphia in 1984.

Ernest Bender had a pivotal role in developing teaching methods for Indian subcontinental languages in the American graduate studies framework.

Ernest Bender authored ten monographs on linguistic or literary topics concerning Indian languages, and several articles, including art historical topics.

Ernest Bender published grammars of Hindi, Urdu and Bengali language and completed, but did not publish grammars for Gujarati and Sinhalese.

Ernest Bender died at his home, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on April 18,1996, of a heart attack, aged 77 years old.