Academic ranks in the United States

Academic ranks in the United States are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. == Professorship == === Common positions === For regular faculty (i.e., not counting administrative faculty positions such as chairships or deanships, nor positions considered "staff" rather than faculty), typical tenure-track positions include: Distinguished / Chaired (or similar) professor (other such titles of special distinction vary by institution) Professor ("full professor", i.e., the destination of the "tenure track," upon exhausting all promotions other than those of special distinction) Associate professor (a mid-level, usually tenured, faculty member, which can lead to "full" professor) Assistant professor (typically entry-level for "tenure track" positions which can lead to associate professor) Permanent full-time faculty positions that are often non-tenure-track can include: Lecturer, Instructor, Teaching Professor (usually non-tenure-track positions which can nevertheless be full-time and permanent, with duties including teaching and service but not research; sometimes these categories entail their own respective ranking hierarchies) Clinical Professor, Professor of Practice (usually non-tenure-track positions which can be full-time and permanent, but whose teaching tends to focus on practical rather than scholarly expertise; sometimes these categories have their own respective ranking hierarchies) Research Associate, Research Professor.

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