Abraham "Abe" Meyer Halpern (February 20, 1914, Boston, Massachusetts – October 20, 1985, Santa Fe, New Mexico) was a linguist and anthropologist who specialized in Native American Languages.
In the wake of World War II he initiated a second career focusing on United States foreign policy, especially in regard to China.
At this point, on the suggestion of Kroeber, Halpern transferred to the University of Chicago to study under Harry Hoijer.
He would carry out extensive linguistic fieldwork on Quechan,[2] resulting in his Ph.D. dissertation, the first published grammar of a Yuman language.
He assumed the position previously held by linguist Robert King Hall at the Civil Information and Education Section of GHQ/SCAP in Japan, where he promoted the adoption of the phonemic Kunrei-Shiki style of romanization of Japanese (rōmaji), and supervised studies on the feasibility of widening the use of romanization in Japan.