Career
He spent most of his career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and also served at the University of Toronto and as a visiting scholar at the University of Alberta, the University of Belgrade, and the University of Edinburgh. During World World War II Joos was a cryptologist for the United States Signal Security Agency. The War Department honored him with a Distinguished Service citation in recognition of his work developing communication systems
After the war he returned to the University of Wisconsin, eventually serving as the chairman of the Department of German.
Among Joos"s books on linguistics is The Five Clocks (1962), which introduced influential discussions of style, register, and style-shifting.
