By: Deborah D. Stine, PhD
When earning a PhD, often academia is the presumed track. But the reality is that less than half of PhDs become academics, but instead enter the “real world” – working for business and industry, government, and non-governmental organizations. The question is – can you ever go back to academia?I was able to do so, as a professor of the practice, but the move is not without its challenges. You might ask – what is a professor of the practice? This varies from one academic institution to another, but typically it is someone who can make a contribution to the academic community through teaching, research, and/or public service, but who does not have a slew of publications to their record. They tend to be senior and have distinguished themselves in their home sector(s).
You typically won’t find “professor of the practice” positions advertised, but more someone reaching out to you or you reaching out to a university to see if your expertise and background might be useful. Positions are not tenure-track, but since these individuals tend to be further along in their career, that is not a key consideration in their decision-making.
When earning a PhD, often academia is the presumed track. But the reality is that less than half of PhDs become academics, but instead enter the “real world” – working for business and industry, government, and non-governmental organizations. The question is – can you ever go back to academia?I was able to do so, as a professor of the practice, but the move is not without its challenges. You might ask – what is a professor of the practice? This varies from one academic institution to another, but typically it is someone who can make a contribution to the academic community through teaching, research, and/or public service, but who does not have a slew of publications to their record. They tend to be senior and have distinguished themselves in their home sector(s).
You typically won’t find “professor of the practice” positions advertised, but more someone reaching out to you or you reaching out to a university to see if your expertise and background might be useful. Positions are not tenure-track, but since these individuals tend to be further along in their career, that is not a key consideration in their decision-making.
In my case, I became a professor of the practice in the engineering and public policy department at Carnegie Mellon University in 2012. Prior to joining CMU, I worked at the White House as Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors, for Congress as a science and technology policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service (a think tank for congress), and on the program staff for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s (also a think tank) Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy.
Since I knew my White House time was term limited, I was constantly on the look-out for something interesting to do when my time was up. I interviewed for a couple of positions, but academia appealed to me for its ability to be an independent after years of restrictions in government and public service. At this stage of my career, however, I was not interested in the pressure of constantly raising research funds that would be required if I was tenure-track. And, although I wrote numerous publications during my “policy wonk” days, I only had one journal article that was co-written with some of my committee members (though it was in Science, so at least it was a top-quality journal).
I instead was interested in passing the lessons I had learned to the next generation and spending quality time with my daughter, who would be off to college before I knew it, and lived with the job intensity of my White House years. So, when I went a letter off to Carnegie Mellon’s Engineering and Public Policy department, I knew it was a roll of the dice as to whether or not they would be interested in my background. But I thought, if anyone would, they would and I had admired the research work of their faculty from afar for many years. I then received a call and heard the term “professor of the practice” for the first time.
All went well in the interview/job talk process, and I’ve now been at CMU and in academia for over 5 years now. I spend half my time teaching classes in energy and environmental policy and in new tech commercialization, and the other half doing policy outreach for CMU’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. I think this has made a good use of my skills, and the students appreciate having someone with real world experience and “war stories” that bring class topics to life.
I have spent a fair amount of time learning how to teach well from CMU’s Center for Teaching Excellence, and in understanding what I call “academic economics.” Overall, I’ve been happy in academia and have enjoyed pursuing a variety of topics that are of interest to me. The chief challenges have been the same as any new workplace – understanding how things are done and how decisions are made.
There are probably no more than about 10 professors of practice at CMU. When I first came to CMU, I contacted all of them to better understand the role they serve in their colleges and departments. The roles are as varied as the individuals, and there is no set pattern that I could see, other than they are all “practical” in their teaching.
Does your university have “professors of the practice”? If so, I’d appreciate hearing more about them and what it is they do. You can reach email me.
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About the author: Dr. Deborah Stine is Professor of the Practice for the Engineering and Public Policy Department and the Associate Director for Policy Outreach for the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University. For her outreach activities for EPP and the Scott Institute, she received the Science Communicator Award from the Carnegie Science Center in 2016. She was Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology at the White House from 2009-2012. From 2007-2009, she was a science and technology policy specialist with the Congressional Research Service, where she wrote reports and advised members of Congress on science and technology policy issues. From 1989-2007, she was at the National Academies – the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine – where she was associate director of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy; director of the National Academies Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program; and director of the Office of Special Projects. While at the National Academies, she was study director of the landmark National Academies report entitled Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, for which she received the Presidents Award– the highest staff award offered at the National Academies. Prior to coming to the Academies, she was a mathematician for the Air Force, an air-pollution engineer for the state of Texas, and an air-issues manager for the Chemical Manufacturers Association. She holds a BS in mechanical and environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine, an MBA from what is now Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, and a PhD in public administration with a focus on science and technology policy analysis from American University.
Since I knew my White House time was term limited, I was constantly on the look-out for something interesting to do when my time was up. I interviewed for a couple of positions, but academia appealed to me for its ability to be an independent after years of restrictions in government and public service. At this stage of my career, however, I was not interested in the pressure of constantly raising research funds that would be required if I was tenure-track. And, although I wrote numerous publications during my “policy wonk” days, I only had one journal article that was co-written with some of my committee members (though it was in Science, so at least it was a top-quality journal).
I instead was interested in passing the lessons I had learned to the next generation and spending quality time with my daughter, who would be off to college before I knew it, and lived with the job intensity of my White House years. So, when I went a letter off to Carnegie Mellon’s Engineering and Public Policy department, I knew it was a roll of the dice as to whether or not they would be interested in my background. But I thought, if anyone would, they would and I had admired the research work of their faculty from afar for many years. I then received a call and heard the term “professor of the practice” for the first time.
All went well in the interview/job talk process, and I’ve now been at CMU and in academia for over 5 years now. I spend half my time teaching classes in energy and environmental policy and in new tech commercialization, and the other half doing policy outreach for CMU’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. I think this has made a good use of my skills, and the students appreciate having someone with real world experience and “war stories” that bring class topics to life.
I have spent a fair amount of time learning how to teach well from CMU’s Center for Teaching Excellence, and in understanding what I call “academic economics.” Overall, I’ve been happy in academia and have enjoyed pursuing a variety of topics that are of interest to me. The chief challenges have been the same as any new workplace – understanding how things are done and how decisions are made.
There are probably no more than about 10 professors of practice at CMU. When I first came to CMU, I contacted all of them to better understand the role they serve in their colleges and departments. The roles are as varied as the individuals, and there is no set pattern that I could see, other than they are all “practical” in their teaching.
Does your university have “professors of the practice”? If so, I’d appreciate hearing more about them and what it is they do. You can reach email me.
--
About the author: Dr. Deborah Stine is Professor of the Practice for the Engineering and Public Policy Department and the Associate Director for Policy Outreach for the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University. For her outreach activities for EPP and the Scott Institute, she received the Science Communicator Award from the Carnegie Science Center in 2016. She was Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology at the White House from 2009-2012. From 2007-2009, she was a science and technology policy specialist with the Congressional Research Service, where she wrote reports and advised members of Congress on science and technology policy issues. From 1989-2007, she was at the National Academies – the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine – where she was associate director of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy; director of the National Academies Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program; and director of the Office of Special Projects. While at the National Academies, she was study director of the landmark National Academies report entitled Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, for which she received the Presidents Award– the highest staff award offered at the National Academies. Prior to coming to the Academies, she was a mathematician for the Air Force, an air-pollution engineer for the state of Texas, and an air-issues manager for the Chemical Manufacturers Association. She holds a BS in mechanical and environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine, an MBA from what is now Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, and a PhD in public administration with a focus on science and technology policy analysis from American University.
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