assistant professor

American  

noun

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

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assistant professor British  

noun

1. a university teacher lower in rank than an associate professor

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Other Word Forms

• assistant professorship noun

Etymology

Origin of assistant professor

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po's Center for International Research, said a US blockade was "not a minor coercive signal" but could rather be considered an effective resumption of the war.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

"The receptors targeted by semaglutide are found in the brain but also in the gut, pancreas and other tissues," said assistant professor of pathology Katrin Svensson, PhD.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

The lack of attention to screens tallies with research done by Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, an assistant professor at the University of Glasgow's School of Computing.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

“We’ve had all of these recent studies about younger people who don’t necessarily want to see sexually explicit material anymore,” said Brandy Monk-Payton, assistant professor at Fordham University.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

At its inception, the division had a roster of four faculty members, including John, who was appointed an assistant professor of medical physics and mostly paid out of the Physics Department budget.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik