He received his M.A. degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1961-1964 under the supervision of Hans Jakob Polotsky, and his Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles, 1964-1966 under the supervision of Wolf Leslau. From 1966 and until his death he was professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[1] In 1972, he initiated the North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics (NACAL). In 1977–78, he held a Guggenheim Fellowship and pursued research at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.