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

See Examples For:

assistant professor

Wei Shen, an assistant professor at Columbia University and body composition researcher, said lean mass shouldn’t be equated with muscle, because it includes other non-fat tissues in addition to muscle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Joshua Ferrer, an assistant professor of government at American University, said many legal residents charged with improperly voting don’t realize they weren’t supposed to do so.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

An agreement between the US and China to regulate AI development is "next to impossible", says Chang Jun Yan, an assistant professor with the military studies programme at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

"Radial glia are the coolest cells that have ever existed," said Aparna Bhaduri, an assistant professor of biological chemistry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 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