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

Dr Carolina Bandinelli, an associate professor at the University of Warwick, who researches dating, relationships and communication agrees that the pandemic changed dating for Gen Z.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

“Everybody assumes money is the most important thing, that you can quote-unquote ‘buy an election’ with all that money,” said Jason McDaniel, an associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

Some farmers may reduce how much fertilizer they use in response to the higher prices, said Josh Maples, associate professor in the department of agricultural economics at Mississippi State University Extension.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026

The new study, led by senior author Mandar Deepak Muzumdar, MD, associate professor of genetics and of internal medicine at YSM, sought to answer that question.

From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026

The second was Yale’s complacent refusal to accommodate its sought-after assistant professor’s request for a promotion to associate professor.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik