Upriver at Harvard, excitement about Pinker’s impending arrival remains high.

“It’s a major coup for us,” said Caramazza. “I think that Pinker’s coming will strengthen us in every area that needed strengthening.”

Kosslyn, who advised Pinker’s doctoral thesis when Pinker earned his doctorate in psychology at Harvard in 1979, said Pinker would do well in the department.

“He fits squarely in the center of the department,” wrote Kosslyn. “His interests bridge those of just about everyone else on our faculty. He should act as a strong integrative force.”

Pinker’s work has ranged from linguistics to visual cognition to evolutionary psychology.

Professors at Harvard expressed a hope that his interests would not diminish in their breadth.

Pinker’s most recent book, The Blank Slate, was a New York Times best-seller and has fueled controversy in the long-standing “nature versus nurture” debate.

“He has a brilliant and playful mind,” Harvard College Professor Marc D. Hauser wrote in an e-mail. “What I like about Steve’s teaching is that it is always crystal clear, punctuated by good stories and a sense of humor.”

“More personally, as a close friend, I am delighted to have him as my next door neighbor on the 9th floor [of William James Hall]. This is how collaborations are formed,” Hauser wrote.

Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby said in a statement, “His is a keen and capacious intellect, seasoned with wit, shot through with verve, capable of the most extraordinary connections between cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, moral and political thought, and popular culture.”

Pinker says he plans to teach a science Core class called “The Human Mind.”

—Staff writer Nathaniel A. Smith can be reached at nsmith@fas.harvard.edu.