Professor

March 15, 2022

⊕This text was originally posted as a Twitter thread

Last month I was promoted to Professor at Liverpool. To say I’m humbled is a bit of an understatement… It’s still a blur and suspect it’ll take a while to sink in. So, while that percolates, here’s a thought crystal clear in my mind: they call it “chair”, but professor really should be “bench”. If the “chair” is partly reward for the achievements of a career, it really would be best represented as a bench that can accommodate all the folks who’ve make it possible. And there’re always many of them! Part of it is the proverbial “giant shoulder-standing”, but there is also the more down-to-earth mentorship, collaboration, peer-support, and general “ass saving” academic networks provide when everything else falls.

In my case, I cannot think of a single achievement I’m truly proud of for which I’m solely responsible. It is impossible to understand my career without the context in which it’s happened, and that has always been one or another community or colective. So, while I truly am chuffed about the sound of “prof Dani”, let’s not forget how these successes are really made and the mechanisms and social infrastructure that makes them possible. And let’s nurture them accordingly.