I learned yesterday that I will become a senior faculty member at Morningside University beginning next fall, as I will be promoted to full professor!
In academia, there is a ranking system which is typically: instructor → assistant professor → associate professor → [full] professor.
I served as an instructor while teaching at Louisiana State University in graduate school in 2011-2013, became an assistant professor when I was hired full-time at the University of Saint Mary in 2013, was promoted to an associate professor in 2019 after earning tenure at USM but then moving to Morningside University, and have held the rank of associate professor since then while earning tenure at Mside in 2022.
It is an honor, and one that few academics reach before their mid-40’s, so I’m pleased to have earned it at the relatively youthful age of 38!