Geoffrey Nunberg (born June, 1945) is an American linguist and a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information. Nunberg has taught at Stanford University and served as a principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center from the mid-1980's to 2000. As a linguist, he is best known for his work on lexical semantics, in particular on the phenomena of polysemy, deferred reference and indexicality. He has also written extensively about the cultural and social implications of new technologies. Nunberg is a frequent contributor to the collective blog Language log.
Nunberg has been commenting on language, usage, and society for National Public Radio's Fresh Air program since 1988. His commentaries on language also appear frequently in The New York Times and other publications. He is the emeritus chair of the American Heritage Dictionary usage panel. His books for general audiences include The Way We Talk Now: Commentaries on Language and Culture from NPR's Fresh Air, Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Controversial Times,[1] Talking Right, and most recently The Years of Talking Dangerously (2009).