Ch-ch-changes
Time may change me, but I can't trace time.
So, on the off chance anyone looks at the bios at the bottom of these posts, there are some new words in mine. Well, one word written twice: “retired.” As of today, August 1, 2024, I am officially retired from Troy University after 26 years at the institution.
I started there pretty much straight out of graduate school (after a year and a half of cobbling together a full-time gig out of a bunch of part-time ones) as an Assistant Professor of Political Science (alongside my co-blogger and now long-term friend, James Joyner). While James exited over two decades ago, I remained. I was promoted to Associate Professor in August of 2004 and to Professor in August of 2010. I became chair of the Department of Political Science in December of 2012 and later Dean of the College of Arts and Science on March 15, 2016 (beware the Ides of March, indeed).
For anyone who cares, my full c.v. can be viewed here (although granted, it now needs some updating).
The bottom line is that it was time to step down as dean, for a number of reasons, and my choices were returning to the faculty or formally retiring from the institution. Retirement was the more attractive option. To be clear, I was blessed with the freedom to make all of these choices on my own. I decided it was time to stop being dean and I decided that an exit from the university was the best option for me. I wish the institution well and leave behind some valued colleagues.
What’s next? The great answer is that I am not entirely sure. I know I want to write more, and I have some ideas about what that might mean. While I am not shutting the door on other professional opportunities I feel excited about new chapters without having to worry about what the next job will be.
What does this mean for my participation here at OTB? Likely it means more output (but, we shall see!). It means that I no longer have to have it in the back of my head that I represent a university as an administrator. That may mean there are some topics that I have semi-avoided (like some aspects of Alabama politics) that I will feel less constrained about (not that it really has had all that much of an impact on my writing). I have some thoughts about higher education and higher education administration that I plan to explore in writing, although whether I do so here or elsewhere remains to be seen.
Mostly, I am in the process of moving into a new mindset. I enjoyed my time as dean but had grown weary of being the Guy Who Solves Problems all day, every day. I think I was actually quite good at it if I can be immodest for a moment. But, man, it takes a toll. I also think that I was increasingly not a good fit in terms of what I wanted to accomplish and what reasonable pathways existed for me to do so. I will leave that at that, however.
In terms of my broader academic career, I am pleased with what I was able to accomplish, especially at a regional comprehensive university with a heavy teaching load and not a ton of resources. I was able to write and publish my book on Colombian electoral reform, Voting Amid Violence: Electoral Democracy in Colombia, which was a major professional goal, even if its audience was a tad limited, shall we say.
I am especially proud of A Different Democracy: American Government in a Thirty-One-Country Perspective. It was extremely gratifying to work with Matthew Shugart, Arend Lijphart, and Bernie Grofman on that book. All three of them are major scholars in the field of electoral studies and comparative institutions. Matthew is also a personal friend that I first met when he was in grad school and I was an undergraduate (whom I have known for over 35 years!). It was been a privilege to work on other projects with Matthew and was pleased when he asked me to contribute to the Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems where he and I co-authored a chapter on Colombia and I solo-authored the US chapter. All of that work has helped me have a (very small) voice in the discussions over electoral and institutional reform in the United States, which has been gratifying.
I also can look back, especially thanks to social media, and see students I taught over the years succeeding in their various careers. It is truly gratifying to see.
So, I hit this transition point feeling pretty good about where I have been. But the cool thing is that I now stand with the horizon in front of me, and the freedom to choose what path I next shall take. And that is a blessing, indeed!
(This had gotten longer and more self-indulgent than intended, but hey, the words have been spilled, so here they are!).
Welcome to the next stage of whatever you decide to do! Speaking as someone who has changed areas of interest/careers multiple times, I suggest you
(A) catch up on your sleep and (B) take a short break totally vegging out. Then you think about what to do next.
Congrats, Doc Taylor. Nothing like waking up the first morning of retirement and realizing there is NOTHING you HAVE to do! An extraordinary career, without a doubt.
Enjoy a well-earned respite from the constant whirlpool of academic politics.
Welcome to your second childhood, where life becomes a Montessori school, where you can pursue your interests.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! As one who has been collecting a nice pension for a couple of years — thanks, WGA! — I can say that there is just about nothing better than getting paid every month for doing nothing and knowing it won’t go away. Enjoy!
Well done sir, you have distinguished yourself greatly in your career, and have nothing left to prove. Most people don’t choose when they retire – instead, it is often forced on them via health, business changes, or personal circumstances outside one’s control.
Further, it is difficult to know when you have “enough” – enough money, enough career accomplishments, enough power, etc. – but thinking deeply about those things and being intentional about our lives means that we are nobody’s servant.
The hard part now is re-learning who you are, outside of your profession, and being very intentional about your actions and how you spend your time so that life continues to have meaning and purpose.
Congrats! May your retirement be as exciting as you want it to be, but never boring.
Dr. Taylor, congratulations!
I hope that you will write more here at OTB, but wherever life takes you, enjoy it!
Best wishes to you.
Congratulations, Dr. Taylor! I’ve only been able to appreciate your contributions to this blog, both writing and photography, but I imagine that excellence extends to all your work. Enjoy your changes!
I retired several years ago. My only regret is that my two best friends died before I ended my career. I was looking forward to spending more time with them.
Congratulations! I hope that you find this next chapter of your life enjoyable and fulfilling!
Congratulations! Apparently it’s time for Steven Taylor v. 2.0! Looking forward to the new release!
Enjoy your retirement!
Congratulations on this opportunity to embark on a new journey in your life after your long but very satisfying career.
I continue to look forward to your thoughts on this great blog
Congratulations!
I stepped back as the problem solver in chief at my office a few years ago (and I also thought I did a pretty good job of it). I understand the relief.
How about we start lobbying President Harris to establish a Department of Electoral Reform?
Best of luck! And I would love hearing about the mental adjustments this brings on, as I am now within spitting distance (2 years or so) of retirement myself and approaching it with trepidation.
Congratulations. Enjoy your next adventure. I’m on number 4 as I start new volunteer initiatives in the fall.
Congrats! May life be wonderful for you!
I’ve retired twice now. It doesn’t always take.
Whoa. That came as a surprise. Best of luck in any new endeavors. Please stay active here. And make sure you link here to any outside books or articles.
There is much talk on the right, and therefore in politics, about education, woke, CRT, demonstrations, dying liberal arts, etc. Perhaps you are now freer to comment on education and academia. I see so much sturm und drang with very little reliable information. Also maybe Robert Farley’s comment yesterday in a tribute to the late James Scott at LGM that narrative poli sci is over, replaced by everyone’s 21st century ability to run regressions on large data sets.
@Michael Reynolds: The thing you don’t do is “work for the man”. Nobody can stop you from doing whatever it is that you want to do on any given day.
We still have responsibilities, of course, but they are less about what other people want you to do, and a lot more about what you yourself want to see happen.
To me, that’s the great thing about “retirement”.
Congratulations! We’re about the same age (55 here). People I work with have been retiring around me, so the topic has been discussed a lot. Some have been anxious about whether they would handle it well, but luckily, they’ve managed to do so happily. I hope you are able to move into a phase of doing more of what makes you happy (and if that includes writing more here, so be it!).
Happy Retirement!
And now–I can reveal that every time I see your avatar –I picture in my twisted brain that you are pointing at someone in the audience and saying, “Youze a lie muthaf%%a!”
Free at last.
Congratulations. I missed working for quite a while as I really liked what I did, for the most part. Fid something you would really like to do. Take a bit of time off but dont wait too long.
Steve
@reid: What you’re describing, along with Dr. Taylor’s decision, represents the possibility of a hopeful shift in attitudes. When I left Woosong University when I was 63, I was implored to not leave by my peers because I was “to young to retire and had a lot of good years left in my career (teaching Level one EFL to students who had been taking level one for as many as 12 years already). People willing to “leave the stage” at 55 has been something that’s been rare, and probably will stay that way, but when I was younger, I didn’t see my coworkers clinging to their jobs with seeming desperation as I have recently. (Of course, when I was younger, the difference between a “normal” income and a “retirement” income wasn’t the steep drop that it’s become, either. And people in my parents’ generation weren’t still paying mortgages that were orders of magnitude larger than their incomes at 50 and 60 and beyond, either.)
Congrats!
Happy Retirement.
I’m close to this point myself, so every time someone else pulls the trigger, I get a bit of vicarious thrill. Thanks for that.
Congratulations, Steve!
Congratulations Steven. You are wise to retire while young enough to have a second career, even if it’s nothing more than relaxing with a bourbon and a book.
Congratulations!! Getting to the 25+ yrs in an academic career and still having any residual sanity is quite an accomplishment (lord knows I failed long ago). I hope you have some quality travels in your future.
Enjoy your freedom. You have a curious mind, so I’m sure you will still be answering questions and tackling problems. Please take the time to enjoy photography, family, and other interests–it’s easy to get caught back up in doing rather than being. And congratulations!
Congrats Steven.
One word, Dr Taylor:
Pickleball!
Congrats Steven. I know your career has been full of ups and downs. This is a great milestone to hit and I hope you enjoy this transition to your next adventure!
Congratulations! As one who retired (or at least quit working) for the last time, I find that I have time to do all those things I put off for years. In my case, wading through the boxes and boxes of family photos, slides, memorabilia that have accumulated (in my family’s case) for over 140 years. I view it as my gift to the next generation of children, nieces, nephews, cousins and so forth.
Above all, have fun!
Congratulations and best wishes. Now perhaps more photos?
Enjoy!
Recall my father retiring early (age 60); about 3 months later MG-Rover (the car producers then) asked for him to come back as a consultant re-an outsourced supplier with issues, as he was one of the best in paint-plant production engineering. I asked him if was going to take it, as he was enjoying gardening and holidays in France:
“Yes. 18 months max, and charge them an arm and two legs.”
They paid up, too.
Moral of the story: if the United States calls and asks you to “fix the politics factory”, remember to set your rates accordingly. 🙂
@Sleeping Dog: What a great way to look at it!
And ditto, Steven — congrats!
Congrats on having successfully bought the balance of your life back from The System!
Congratulations on your retirement, Dr. Taylor! Working with you as a graduate assistant was one of the highlights of my time at Troy University. Your dedication and leadership have clearly made a significant impact on the institution and its community. I wish you all the best as you embark on this new chapter and explore exciting opportunities ahead.
Congratulations on your well deserved retirement! You’ve had one heck of a career, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
I’ve heard it said that retirement is “paying yourself to do what you like best.” May you prove to be an outstanding employee. Have fun, by whatever means appeals.
Congratulations! May you find peace and enjoyment moving forward.
Congratulations! I can only guess how this feels, as I look forward to my own retirement from my own university, but that’s at least 10 years in the future.