As I turn into 67 in a few days, I will belong to the most senior faculty ( in terms of age, not the rank) group. I am the oldest faculty in my unit. I am older than the chancellor, the provost, the dean, and other "bosses". Although colleagues are often very polite not to ask me when do I retire, they probably talk about this in private. Among my friends in Appleton, especially old Kimberly-Clark colleagues, they do often bluntly ask, when will I retire?
The short answer to this question is that, not yet. Not for a while. My dad worked until he was 80. My brother, Ting-Kai, who is 11 years older than I is still teaching at Furdam university in NY state. Compare to them, 67 is still a "puppy". I still have many years to go.
Teaching provides me mental challenges on the subjects I teach; giving me opportunities to interact with young men and women allowing me to guide them for their future career success. The scholarship aspect of my job provides me ample opportunity to create, to keep on learning.
When I was awarded as a tenure faculty in 2008, I did not have any expectation for any more career advancement. For one thing, I am short of the drive compared to those young colleagues in the 40's or 50's. For another reason, my expertise is in the area of polymer chemistry. Polymer chemistry research requires expensive equipment; UW-Green Bay is not able to fund my research.
Well, situation changes in an amazing way. Few years ago, I had a chance to listen to a great seminar given by Professor Weinhold of UW-Madison. I decided to take on quantum computation as my new research direction. Working with him for about 4 years, we actually have 4 manuscripts to submit for publication. Once these4 papers are published, I may be able to apply for promotion to the 'Professor' rank.
In short, at age 67, I still have a lot of iron to fire, both in teaching and scholarship. It would be a while before I decide to retire.
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