In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

How does it look for the job market to have an emeritus adviser? If there are any disadvantages, what exactly are they? And what should you do if your dissertation adviser is planning to retire and your department doesn't have any other senior faculty working in the area?

I wouldn't think it matters at all. In fact, I suspect that most search committee members aren't going to have clue whether they are retired/emeritus or not! As long as they actually supervise you and are able to write a strong letter, I don't see any disadvantages. But maybe I'm missing something?

What do readers think?

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3 responses to “How does having an emeritus advisor look on the market?”

  1. a victim of sorts

    I do not think the emeritus status matters … what matters is whether your supervisor is still actively researching. I had a supervisor (not emeritus) who was not very active. He was a great and supportive supervisor. But it was a problem when I was on the market. No one was familiar with him (or his work). I was much longer on the market than I should have been. (I have since gone on to have a fine career, but I did not get my first TT job until I had letters from other people who were very active researchers)

  2. Tenured now

    If anything, I’d see it as a bonus, since Emeritus faculty don’t have obligations to supervise in the way that current faculty do. I’d take it as an indication that they thought highly of the work and wanted to continue to be involved. (But I agree with Marcus that I would be very unlikely to know that they were Emeritus.)

  3. no more bob

    We were going to hire someone until we saw that Stalnaker was on their committee, at which point we immediately removed them from all consideration.

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