Ian Maddieson is a world-renowned linguist at UC Berkeley, the vice president of the International Phonetic Association. Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a public coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California, USA to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate. ... The International Phonetic Association (IPA) is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. ...