Thomas Albert Sebeok (Hungarian: Sebők Tamás, pronounced [ˈʃɛbøːk ˈtɒmaːʃ]; November 9, 1920 – December 21, 2001) was a Hungarian-born American polymath,[1] semiotician, and linguist.

[10] In 1943, Sebeok started work at Indiana University in Bloomington, assisting the Amerindianist Carl Voegelin in managing the country's largest Army Specialized Training Program in foreign languages.

[12] He also continued his work as a linguist, publishing several articles and books analyzing aspects of the Mari language (referring to it by the name "Cheremis").

[11] In 1980, Sebeok along with Robert Rosenthal participated in a conference named "The Clever Hans Phenomenon: Communication with Horses, Whales, Apes and People" held by the New York Academy of Sciences which casts doubt upon the research efforts regarding ape communication, including but not limited to the works of Herbert S. Terrace, Duane Rumbaugh and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh.

[18] The report proposed a "folkloric relay system" and the establishment of an "atomic priesthood" of physicists, anthropologists, and semioticians to create and preserve a common cultural narrative of the hazardous nature of nuclear waste sites.

[10] The Sebeok Fellow Award "recognizes outstanding contributions to the development of the doctrine of signs" and is the highest honor given by the Semiotic Society of America.