Professor (highest academic rank)

Last updated May 21, 2019

Professor (informally also known as full professor) is the highest academic rank at universities and other institutions of higher education in parts of the world. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of the highest rank.

University Academic institution for further education

A university is an institution of higher education and research which awards academic degrees in various academic disciplines. Universities typically provide undergraduate education and postgraduate education.

Higher education is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. Often delivered at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, conservatories, and institutes of technology, higher education is also available through certain college-level institutions, including vocational schools, trade schools, and other career colleges that award academic degrees or professional certifications. Tertiary education at non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education. The right of access to higher education is mentioned in a number of international human rights instruments. The UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 declares, in Article 13, that "higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education". In Europe, Article 2 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education.

Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet.

Description

Commonwealth and European usage

In most Commonwealth nations (such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, English-speaking Caribbean) and northern Europe, professor is the title of the most senior academics at a university and not a generic label for all university academics.^[1] A professor is a highly accomplished and recognized academic, and the title is in most cases awarded only after decades of scholarly work to senior academics.^[2] In the United Kingdom, approximately 10% of university academics hold professorships.^[1]

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally known as the Commonwealth, and historically the British Commonwealth, is a unique political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member states.

The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

North American usage

In United States and Canada the word professor is also used in the two lower ranking positions, assistant professor and associate professor.^[3]

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Assistant professor is an academic rank used in universities or colleges in the United States, Canada, and some other countries.

Related Research Articles

A rector is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a university, whilst in the United States the most senior official is often referred to as President and in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations the most senior official is the Chancellor, whose office is primarily ceremonial and titular. The term and office of a rector can be referred to as a rectorate. The title is used widely in universities in Europe. and is very common in Latin American countries. It is also used in Brunei, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Israel and the Middle East. In the ancient universities of Scotland the office is sometimes referred to as Lord Rector, is the third most senior official, and is usually responsible for chairing the University Court.

Privatdozent or Privatdozentin, abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title similar to Adjunct professor in North America conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifications that denote an ability to teach a designated subject at university level. In its current usage, the title indicates that the holder has permission to teach and examine independently without having a position. The title is not necessarily connected to a salaried position, but may entail a nominal obligation to teach.

Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct research.

Associate professor is an academic title. In North America and universities elsewhere using the North American system, it is a position between assistant professor and a full professorship. In the United Kingdom, the title associate professor is sometimes used in place of reader. The title of associate professor in Australia and New Zealand, as well as in South Africa, India, parts of Southeast Asia, Ireland and other countries, like the title of reader, corresponds to a full professorship in North America.

Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland, lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured and is roughly equivalent to an associate professor in the North American system.

Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership and equal or above the title "associate professor".

A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule.

The Faculty of Law, Cambridge is the law school of the University of Cambridge. The Faculty is one of the world's oldest and finest law schools, renowned for the quality of its teaching and its cutting-edge legal research, particularly in international law. It is regularly ranked as the best law school in the United Kingdom by major national league tables. In 2018, it was ranked the best law school in the United Kingdom and second best law school in the world.

The title of reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth of Nations, for example India, Australia and New Zealand, denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship.

A tenured appointment is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Tenure is a means of defending the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for society in the long run if scholars are free to hold and examine a variety of views.

The following summarizes basic academic ranks in the French higher education system. Most academic institutions being state-run, people with permanent positions are civil servants.

A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator.

In the U.S., "professors" commonly occupy any of several positions in academia, typically the ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. The same terms are used outside the U.S., although they often denote different roles than in the U.S. system. The majority of university lecturers and instructors in the United States, as of 2015, do not occupy these tenure-track ranks, but are part-time adjuncts.

Professor academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries

Professor is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences, a teacher of the highest rank.

Academic ranks in the United States are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.

Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.

Academic ranks in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative importance and power of academic employees. In general the United Kingdom has three academic career pathways, a combined research and teaching career pathway, a research career pathway and a teaching career pathway.

Academic ranks in Norway are the system of merit-based ranks used by academic employees in academia. Similar to the British rank system, the Norwegian rank system is broadly divided into three pathways, a combined research and teaching career pathway, a research(-intensive) career pathway and a teaching career pathway. In general the combined pathway is the normal at universities and the research pathway the normal at research institutes, while the more recent teaching pathway is used as an alternative to the combined pathway primarily at colleges and former colleges which have recently been raised to university status.

References

1 2 "What is a Professor?: Professors and professorship: origins and history". University of Leeds. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
↑ "UK Academic Job Titles Explained - Academic Positions". academicpositions.eu. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
↑ Virginia Valian (1999). Why So Slow?: The Advancement of Women. MIT Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-262-72031-1.

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[Leeds-1] 1 2 "What is a Professor?: Professors and professorship: origins and history". University of Leeds. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

[2] "UK Academic Job Titles Explained - Academic Positions". academicpositions.eu. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

[Valian1999-3] Virginia Valian (1999). Why So Slow?: The Advancement of Women. MIT Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-262-72031-1.