Research Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Languages Alice Taff is the new vice president/president elect of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas. SSILA was founded in December 1981 as the international scholarly organization representing American Indian linguistics. Current membership is more than 900. Taffʼs term is a 6-year commitment in all, 2 years each as vice president and president, then 2 more years as past president.