Full Professor

A colleague handed me their phone.

“Here is the final vote,” they said.

I watched as two members of the Board of Regents of the University of Iowa filled the screen. One of them motioned that the Board vote to approve faculty promotions.

All in favor. None opposed.

And that was it. The final hurdle. I’d been made. I have been promoted to full professor.

***

A brief overview of my academic odyssey: I finished my PhD at the University of Minnesota in 2014. I accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at Penn State Altoona in 2015. I was promoted to associate professor in 2022. My promotion and tenure came with me when I accepted a position at the University of Iowa. I was promoted to full professor at the University of Iowa, as the letter above captures, effective July 1st, 2026.

The paragraph above doesn’t capture the labor, anxiety, and energy that has gone into my career as a scholar. This abbreviated summary of my CV documents a passage of time. Many years sprawl out behind the Board of Regents voting to approve my final promotion. Many anxious revisions, teaching evaluations, and personal statements.

I care about teaching and learning. The book my friend Erin and I are shopping argues that the only thing that matters about teaching and learning is transformation. I care about cultivating transformation rather than stifling it. That has been what matters to me when I teach, learn, write, and move through the hallways of institutions.

An institutional transformation is afoot. I have transformed from an Associate Professor to a Full professor.

***

The first tenure letter I received was underwhelming. Robbinsdale Schools sent me a 2-sentence memo congratulating me on having been granted tenure. The memo unceremoniously told me Robbinsdale looked forward to my many years of service. I left for Roseville Area School district the next year.

Some folks have big feelings about tenure. I assure you that tenured faculty members can still be fired, it just takes some documentation. I know of full professors who have done egregious things in higher education, and lost their jobs.

Tenure matters. Tenure doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want without consequence. Tenure does mean I have the academic freedom to think, write, and say things regardless of those who have power. Academic freedom is essential in teaching, learning, and transformation. It is crucial to a democratic society. My capacity to think and inspire others to think for themselves matters.

Some folks think professors like me are brainwashing, indoctrinating, and remaking the world in our own image. This is silly. Sit in on any of my classrooms over the last 25 years and tell me I’m indoctrinating students with a straight face. I can barely make them turn their essays in on time or be quiet when I’m talking. I mostly kid. Students tend to build things with me. But I make it a point to tell them that I have views about the world that they do not need to share. You have views about the world that I do not need share. Difference is an important part of transformation, and I welcome your difference, and hope you acknowledge the importance of mine.

I am proud to have been promoted to full professor. Proud to spent my career in education cultivating the capacity for transformation. Inspiring others to think hard about their many worlds. Seeking difference, change, and love instead of hate. I hope you seek those things too, and are celebrated when you achieve them. Full professor is a small celebration in my world. I hope there are celebrations in your worlds.