Although faculty members transition from industry to academia (and vice-versa), it’s rare to go back and forth. How does each setting help a researcher grow, and what skills are critical in both environments? Sam King offers his insight.
Five years ago, I left my tenured position in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to push myself intellectually and professionally in industry. During these years, I started a company (Adrenaline Mobility), sold my company to Twitter, worked as a software engineer, managed a two-person team, managed a 25-person organization, battled overseas fraudsters and fake accounts, and led a nine-month project (an eternity in industry) that ended up being the largest growth initiative in the history of Twitter. Continue reading
