Ina Lipkowitz, Ph.D.

Ina Lipkowitz was born and raised in New York. When she was barely able to walk, she surprised her parents by standing up on her chair at a restaurant and screaming, "I want Chinese!" She's loved food ever since-not just Chinese food, but all food. Despite having won an honorable mention for the Chocolate Fudge Cake she submitted to a Girl Scouts' baking competition and despite having worked her way through high school at the local McDonald's, Ina did not pursue her love of food professionally. Instead she studied English literature at Barnard College and then received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. She taught English, French, and German literature at Harvard University and currently teaches literature and biblical studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her love for all things culinary never waned, however, and she continued to cook and bake, as well as to read virtually anything having to do with food. She combined her passions for languages and food in her first book, Words to Eat By: Five Foods and a Culinary History of the English Language (St. Martin's Press, 2011). Ina lives with her family outside of Boston. When she's not at her computer or in the kitchen, she's most likely to be found swimming in Walden Pond or cycling on a quiet scenic road, preferably in Western Massachusetts.