I have seriously been considering joining a university faculty. Not a big school, just someplace that would give me the opportunity to do some research with undergraduates. Preferably with a campus near the beach. I dismissed academia as a career while I was in graduate school, but a few disparate events have me reconsidering that decision.
The Jeff Kindler article, my family's beach vacation, the retirement of a colleague after 33 years with the company, the tedium that I've been dealing with for the last month, the cancellation of a project that has dominated my time for most of this year, the dissatisfaction that I've been facing in trying to plot out a career in an industry that is getting bored with my skills, a desire to have more power over what I work on. This is the miasma of my career discontent. A bucolic campus where I can move my background projects into the foreground has tremendous appeal. The geographic limitations of pharma would be lifted, I wouldn't have to leave behind the most exciting part of my job, and I would be able to determine where I put my energy rather than being told what to work on. I would make less money, but I could potentially have more job security. Faculty positions are notoriously difficult to obtain, but I think I could put together a very appealing package.
A key part of that package would be the paper that has been percolating in my mind for months. Succeed and my chances for getting a faculty position improve dramatically. Fail and I'll be the one retiring from PCH after working there for 33 years. I'm going to start writing it tomorrow. My goal is to have a draft by the time the wife and I head back to the beach later this month to celebrate our anniversary. Writing papers will be a huge part of my day if I become a professor. This is my chance to sample that career while working on advancing my current one.
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