What exactly is a professor these days?

Last sentence says it all. Some people have that rare combination of insight, comprehension, and superb ability to communicate ideas on any level.

Thought provoking article. Would have liked to have seen some reference to the role of the professor in enabling and mentoring junior colleagues. Many are concerned with feathering own nest, but the best I have worked with epitomize the spirit of collegiality and team building.

Thank you Stanley Lambchop [great name :)] - editing limits content....but completely agree with you re "mentoring junior colleagues"; and the importance of fostering the "spirit of collegiality and team building"....doesn't take much to say "thanks...well done....good job" etc James

It's a pity that James works for a University that, not so long ago, promoted its Dean of Business to Professor; an individual who had never once published anything, an individual who had an alleged history of bullying in another Faculty, an individual who had not one qualification in a business related field and an individual who brought public scandal on the University over a whistle blowing case. Perhaps James we already know what a Professor isn't, or at least we should know by now what one ought not to be.

Where I work a professor can be various things. Notably they can be brown nosers or someone with the flimsiest of publication records. Someone with a record of deep learning and understanding? You'd be hard put to find one of those.

Destructive testing has served IKEA well over the years James, perhaps that was the model being followed by your VC at the time, but I take your point. In your commendable constructive spirit, let me reverse the invective and comment that every 'proper' Professor I've worked with/for own certain qualities. Their academic credentials are rooted in hard won qualifications in their discipline, they are respected members of their academic community, they demonstrate humility widely, they promote their University through having published in leading journals in their field and they serve their University with pride. Clearly these qualities are mutually inclusive but without one or more of them, one does not have a Professor.

"In fact, from a US perspective, I’ve heard that things are perceived as far simpler in Europe (where only very senior faculty call themselves professors)." Sadly no longer in the UK where City University London is doshing out the title 'Professor' to part time lecturers of undergraduates

Hi James, sorry to say you have missed out an increasingly important role for Professors - that of revenue generator via research grants. This is now a widely-expected task for most, but the pressure on Profs to deliver this seems increasingly to outweigh the traditional roles of facilitating learning, research and 'academic citizenship' - a term I picked up from the THE in a great article a few months ago. I would also add that being a good 'teacher', or 'learning facilitator', or whatever term one prefers, is almost never enough to enable an academic to attain the title and level of (full) Professor (as distinct from Assistant or Associate Prof.