Where My Old Profs Went

You have probably experienced this:  You hadn't thought about someone in years, perhaps decades.  Then that person's name pops into your head.

These days, you can type that person's name into Google or some other search engine. Even if that person has literally fallen off the face of the earth, you can probably find out his or her whereabouts.

Recently, the names of two of my undergraduate professors--who, perhaps I don't need to say, were among the better professors I had.  They were smart (almost frighteningly so!) and rigorous, and their lectures were challenging and engaging at the same time.  Needless to say, I learned quite a bit from both of them.

So, perhaps, I shouldn't have been surprised that they both left academic life long before they could have retired.  One of those profs, in fact, got tenure when he was 29 years old and became the director of a program of study at the university.  He left in 1989 and has been developing software and systems ever since.  In fact, he's the founder and CEO of a company in that line of work that lists Fortune 500 companies among its clients.

The other prof's history is a little more nebulous, as he's moved around (geographically) a bit more than the other.  But, from what I've gathered, he's been writing science fiction books under a nom de plume and has started at least one successful business I found.

Mind you, neither of these profs was in business, and the one who has been in software and IT was only peripherally involved with the technology as part of his studies.  In fact, both profs' main areas of academic research and teaching have little or nothing to do with the things they've done since leaving the academy.

I'll admit that I am disappointed, at least a little, because both were such assets to their students and the fields in which they worked.  On the other hand, they were smarter--both in academic and practical ways--than most of their colleagues.  The one who's in software knew it; I think the other one simply believed that, in spite of his success, he wasn't a "good fit."  Actually, I think the academic world wasn't a good fit for him--or that other prof.

I am tempted to write to them.  They probably don't remember me because I had their classes so long ago.  They also might want to forget that part of their lives.  As good as they were, they never seemed happy in the academic world.  If you've been reading this blog, you know that I can understand how they might have felt.  

They have both been successful outside the academic world.  And I know for sure that the one who went into technology is making lots more money than he ever would have made as a professor.  The other prof probably is, too.  I hope they are happy.  Somehow, I imagine they are.