Read Mark Liberman’s paper about Morris Halle in the Annual Review of Linguistics. Here is the abstract:
Morris Halle has been one of the most influential figures in modern linguistics.
This is partly due to his scientific contributions in many areas: insights
into the sound patterns of English and Russian, ideas about the nature of
metered verse, ways of thinking about phonological features and rules, and
models for argumentation about phonological description and phonological
theory. But he has had an equally profound influence through his role as
a teacher and mentor, and this personal influence has not been limited to
students who follow closely in his intellectual and methodological footsteps.
It has been just as strongor strongeramong researchers who disagree
with his specific ideas and even his general approach, or who work in entirely
different subfields. This appreciation is a synthesis of reflections from
colleagues and former students whom he has formed, informed, and inspired