History
SIL International started as a small summer training session in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas in 1934 to train missionaries of what later became Wycliffe Bible Translators in basic linguistic, anthropological and translation principles. The founder was William Cameron Townsend (1896–1982), a former Disciples of Christ missionary to Guatemala. Its headquarters are located in the southern section of Dallas, Texas.
From the 1950s to 1987, SIL training was hosted by the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The agreement between the university and SIL was terminated in 1987 after a controversy about SIL being involved in missionary activities and its relationship with Latin American governments. SIL training is now offered in many locations around the world.
One of the students at the first summer institute in its second year 1935 was Kenneth Lee Pike (1912–2000), who was to become the foremost figure in the history of SIL. He served as SIL's president from 1942 to 1979, then as president emeritus until his death in 2000. He worked at the University of Michigan for many years. SIL's current president is Dr. John Watters, who took the office in 2008, after serving as executive director from 2000 to 2007.
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