associate professor

American  

noun

1. a teacher in a college or university who ranks above an assistant professor and below a professor.

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associate professor British  

noun

1. (in the US and Canada) a university teacher lower in rank than a full professor but higher than an assistant professor

2. (in New Zealand) a senior lecturer holding the rank below professor

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• associate professorship
  noun

Etymology

Origin of associate professor

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Associate professor of law at University of Oxford, Michael Foran, thinks there will be more cases like this.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2026

Associate professor Håkon Reiersen with the museum said the gold pendants — flat, thin, single-sided gold medals called bracteates — date from around A.D.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2023

Associate professor of politics Jennifer Seely will oversee the school’s new program.

From Washington Times • May 28, 2017

Associate professor Aeron Hurt, of the Melbourne-based Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, said scientists had previously thought viruses rarely reached Antarctica.

From The Guardian • Sep. 20, 2016

Associate professor Ben Edelman last week sent a string of progressively hostile emails to Ran Duan, who deals with the customer relations side of his parents’ restaurant, Sichuan Garden. 

From US News • Dec. 10, 2014