So You Want to Be a Professor?

A Handbook for Graduate Students

"Vesilind's book will serve as a valuable resource, not only for graduate students on the threshold of academic careers, but also for current assistant professors in need of a mentor and even for those top undergraduates deciding whether a doctorate followed by college teaching is the best use of their talents. Combining good-humored criticisms of academia with sincere defense of the contributions of professors, Vesilind gives informal and, more importantly, frank advice for every stage of the career, from the career choice to retirement."

--Eugenia P. Gerdes, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

Bucknell University

Maybe you'd like to combine the two loves of your life—teaching and scholarship—and perhaps build a satisfying and profitable academic career, but you're not sure if this is really what you want or how to go about it. Or maybe you've made up your mind but need some good advice on how to succeed. If so, this book is written for you. So You Want To Be a Professor begins with a discussion of jobs in academia and how to find them. Chapters cover a wide range of political skills for future academic success, including lecturing, organizing a course, meeting your first class, testing, maintaining a research program, and writing for publication. No other book provides such a practical overview of essential career-building skills. Even junior faculty will benefit from the advice in this engaging, comprehensive book.