• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Indiana University IU

Open Search
  • About
    • History
    • Stories
  • Awards
    • University
      • Honorary Degrees
      • University Medal
      • Bicentennial Medal
    • Presidential
      • President’s Medal for Excellence
      • Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion
      • Distinguished Service Medal
    • Research & Creative Activity
      • Nobel Prize
      • National Academies
      • International Academies
      • MacArthur Fellowship
      • Pulitzer Prize
      • Guggenheim Fellowship
      • Fulbright Award
      • Andrew Carnegie Fellowship
      • Distinguished Professors
      • Titled Professors
      • Wylie Innovation Catalyst Medal
      • The Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers
    • Artistic & Performance
      • Emmy
      • Grammy
      • Oscar
      • Tony
    • Teaching
      • Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award
      • Herman Frederic Lieber Memorial Award
      • President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching
      • Sylvia E. Bowman Award
      • Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award
      • President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Technology
      • Part-Time Teaching Award
      • Lieber Memorial Associate Instructor Award
    • Service
      • Chancellor and Provost Medallion
      • Distinguished International Service Award
      • John W. Ryan Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Programs and Studies
      • E. Ross Bartley Award
      • W. George Pinnell Award for Outstanding Service
    • Historical
      • Bridging the Visibility Gap Initiative
      • IU Historical Marker Program
    • Student
      • Rhodes Scholarship
      • Marshall Scholarship
      • Mitchell Scholarship
      • Churchill Scholarship
      • Gates Cambridge Scholarship
      • Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad
      • Fulbright IIE
      • Goldwater Scholarship
      • Truman Scholarship
      • Boren Scholarship and Fellowship
      • Beinecke Scholarship
      • Udall Scholarship
      • Wells Senior Recognition Award
      • Stahr Distinguished Senior Award
      • Kate Hevner Mueller Outstanding Senior Award
    • Athletic
      • Olympians
      • IU Bloomington Athletics Hall of Fame
      • IUPUI Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
      • Z.G. Clevenger Award
      • Leanne Grotke Award
      • Bill Orwig Award
    • Alumni
      • University Alumni Awards
      • Campus Alumni Awards
      • School Alumni Awards
    • Philanthropy
      • Partners in Philanthropy Award
      • Presidents Circle Laurel Pin
      • Indiana University Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award
      • IU Foundation President’s Medallion
  • Nominations
    • Teaching Awards
    • Service Awards
      • John W. Ryan Award
      • W. George Pinnell Award
    • Research and Creative Activity Awards
  • Events
    • Distinguished Professors Symposium
    • National Academies Events
    • Guggenheim Fellowship Events
    • Celebration of Teaching and Service Events
  • Search Awards
  • Contact Us

University Honors & Awards

  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Stories
  • Awards
    • University
    • Presidential
    • Research & Creative Activity
    • Artistic & Performance
    • Teaching
    • Service
    • Historical
    • Student
    • Athletic
    • Alumni
    • Philanthropy
  • Nominations
    • Teaching Awards
    • Service Awards
    • Research and Creative Activity Awards
  • Events
    • Distinguished Professors Symposium
    • National Academies Events
    • Guggenheim Fellowship Events
    • Celebration of Teaching and Service Events
  • Search
  • Search Awards
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Awards

Felix J. Oinas

* Deceased

Felix J. Oinas

Awards

Guggenheim Fellow - 1966
Guggenheim Fellow - 1961
Fulbright Award - 1960

About Felix J. Oinas

Felix Oinas began his career at IU Bloomington as a lecturer in Russian in 1950. After completing a Ph.D. in linguistics at IU in 1952, he was hired as an assistant professor of Slavic studies (1955). He was appointed to the faculty at the Graduate School in 1956, promoted to associate professor in 1961, and became a fellow of the Folklore Institute in 1963. He was promoted to associate professor of Uralic and Altaic studies in 1964, was named a Guggenheim Fellow in folklore and popular culture in 1961 and 1966, and was awarded a Fulbright-Hayes grant for study and research in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (1965). He was promoted to full professor that same year. He retired from IU in 1981, and was named professor emeritus of Uralic and Altaic studies and Slavic languages and literatures soon after.

Oinas received an M.A. in Finno-Ugric, comparative literature, and folklore from Tartu University in 1938. Before fleeing to Germany in 1945, he taught Estonian, did research on Hungarian literature, and translated works in Hungarian and Estonian. While in Germany, he studied Slavic linguistics and literature before leaving for America in 1949. He was hired by Wayne University (Detroit) as a research assistant in the Slavic department, where he worked for one year before moving to Bloomington to teach Russian, work at the Folklore Institute, and begin his pursuit of a Ph.D.

Oinas received numerous national and international accolades during his 30-year career. He was elected a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences (1977), awarded the Kalevala medal from the Finnish government (1985), and awarded the Order of the State Coat of Arms, II class (1998), the highest Estonian civil honor.

Oinas passed away on September 25, 2004, in Bloomington, Indiana, at the age of 93.

  • University
  • Presidential
  • Research & Creative Activity
  • Artistic & Performance
  • Teaching
  • Service
  • Historical
  • Student
  • Athletic
  • Alumni
  • Philanthropy
  • Office of the President

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Open to All | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University