Avram Noam Chomsky (/ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician,[22][23][24] political commentator, social justice activist, and anarcho-syndicalist advocate. Sometimes described as "the father of modern linguistics,"[25][26][27] Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy.[28][29] He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is Institute Professor Emeritus, and is the author of more than 100 books.[30] In a 2005 poll that asked readers of Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines to vote for "the top five public intellectuals" in the world, Chomsky ranked first.[31]