There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a professor of biology. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.6 an hour? That's $80,294 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 155,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Professor Of Biology Do

There are certain skills that many professors of biology have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, speaking skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what a Professor Of Biology does

How To Become a Professor Of Biology

If you're interested in becoming a professor of biology, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 46.5% of professors of biology have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 25.7% of professors of biology have master's degrees. Even though most professors of biology have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Professor Of Biology

Average Salary for a Professor Of Biology

Professors Of Biology in America make an average salary of $80,294 per year or $39 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $142,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $45,000 per year.
Average Professor Of Biology Salary
$80,294 Yearly
$38.60 hourly

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Roles and Types of Professor Of Biology

There are several types of professor of biology, including:

Adjunct Professor

Role:

So if you're wondering if there's a difference between the adjunct professor that taught your chemistry I class and the professor who teaches the astronomy II class, there is. An adjunct professor is typically hired on a contractual basis.

While it may not be a permanent position, an adjunct professor does essentially the same things a regular professor does. From writing a syllabus to teaching the class, holding office hours and grading tests, an adjunct professor position really is a great starting point if you want to become a full-time professor in the future. Or, ya know, if you just need a little extra cash on the side.

  • Average Salary: $98,821
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Professor

Role:

Professors are key academic staff at colleges and universities. They develop in-depth familiarity with their material over extensive years of specialized education and share their knowledge in lectures they prepare, using appropriate textbooks, and keeping up to date with current trends and developments of the topic.

Apart from teaching, they conduct research as well, probing questions that have not been sufficiently dealt with in their area of expertise. They read articles and attend conferences to keep up with the work of fellow researchers and publish their findings and polemics with current results in academic journals.

Providing services at their department is also an important part of their job, such as evaluating students, organizing conferences, writing proposals for grants, and editing journals. They assist with creating course material and supervising postgraduate students as well. Being a professor is a coveted position for many who are attracted to academia. The competition is fierce, and you need a good amount of passion and dedication to rise to this beautiful and fulfilling role.

  • Average Salary: $157,570
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Science Faculty Member

Role:

As a member of the science faculty, your contribution to the faculty of science may be in the form of lecturing students, hosting seminars, conducting academic research, and giving students advice. You may even serve on professional science committees on an advisory basis. If you are a professor, you will be expected to meet deadlines, submit grades on time and provide students with constructive criticism on their performance. Furthermore, as a highly esteemed academic community member, you will be expected to conduct your lectures with the utmost skill and ensure that your students benefit academically from your knowledge.

If you are in the science faculty on a tenure basis, you are expected to make significant contributions to the knowledge in your field through continuous studies and research. Therefore, you need to have extensive knowledge of your field in the sciences. You need to be an excellent communicator, both written and verbal, as you will conduct lectures, write and proofread several research papers.

To become a faculty member, you will need to have obtained a doctoral degree in your scientific field of specialty, work as a research assistant under the supervision of a professor and gain post-doctoral experience. Your extensive scientific knowledge coupled with experience in academia should suffice in order for you to become a member of the science faculty

  • Average Salary: $70,683
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Professor Of Biology Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active professor of biology jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where professors of biology earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Professor Of Biology Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Texas869$62,389
2New York812$105,085
3California487$109,882
4Pennsylvania458$76,241
5Virginia427$68,187
6Florida297$62,003
7Colorado296$69,171
8New Jersey276$81,725
9Illinois247$72,636
10Oregon219$91,034
11Massachusetts214$84,096
12Michigan213$71,957
13Ohio204$70,554
14North Carolina199$60,393
15Wisconsin183$74,910
16Kentucky165$51,090
17Alabama153$64,653
18Minnesota148$69,213
19Utah144$110,041
20Louisiana144$62,532
21Washington140$78,982
22Tennessee127$56,781
23Georgia122$61,103
24Mississippi120$61,252
25South Carolina119$53,349
26Maryland118$74,041
27Indiana113$73,240
28West Virginia112$52,597
29Iowa105$64,483
30Missouri98$54,376
31Nebraska88$60,323
32Arizona82$57,315
33Kansas64$69,203
34Connecticut61$84,374
35Oklahoma61$66,995
36Vermont60$71,918
37South Dakota46$69,663
38Maine42$70,251
39Alaska40$90,594
40Arkansas40$58,146
41Rhode Island38$86,880
42New Mexico33$70,716
43Montana30$57,874
44Idaho18$89,740
45Nevada15$87,729
46Delaware14$85,281
47New Hampshire14$81,237
48North Dakota12$77,265
49Wyoming10$69,036
50Hawaii8$58,504

Professor Of Biology Education

Professor Of Biology Degrees

Bachelors

46.5 %

Masters

25.7 %

Doctorate

21.9 %

Top Colleges for Professor Of Biologys

1. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

3. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

6. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

9. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

10. University of California, Irvine

Irvine, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,700

Enrollment

29,722

Top Skills For a Professor Of Biology

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.4% of professors of biology listed general biology on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and speaking skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Professor Of Biology Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Professor Of Biology templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Professor Of Biology resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Professor Of Biology diversity

Professor Of Biology Gender Distribution

Male
Male
58%
Female
Female
42%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among professors of biology, 42.4% of them are women, while 57.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among professors of biology is White, which makes up 65.4% of all professors of biology.

  • The most common foreign language among professors of biology is Spanish at 57.1%.

Online Courses For Professor Of Biology That You May Like

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An introduction to dynamical modeling techniques used in contemporary Systems Biology research. We take a case-based approach to teach contemporary mathematical modeling techniques. The course is appropriate for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. Lectures provide biological background and describe the development of both classical mathematical models and more recent representations of biological processes. The course will be useful for students who plan to use experimental...

2. Chemical Biology

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Chemical biology is a burgeoning field that has rapidly risen to prominence. This surge of interest has been fuelled by chemical biology’s applicability to understanding critical processes in live cells or model organisms in real time. This success has arisen because chemical biology straddles a nexus between chemistry, biology, and physics. Thus, chemical biology can harness rapid chemistry to observe or perturb biological processes, that are in turn reported using physical assays, all in an...

3. General Biology I: Foundations of Biology

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An essential course in Biology for students of all ages...

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Best States For a Professor Of Biology

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a professor of biology. The best states for people in this position are Utah, California, New York, and Oregon. Professors of biology make the most in Utah with an average salary of $110,041. Whereas in California and New York, they would average $109,882 and $105,085, respectively. While professors of biology would only make an average of $91,034 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New York

Total Professor Of Biology Jobs: 812
Highest 10% Earn:
$175,000
Location Quotient:
2.21

2. Utah

Total Professor Of Biology Jobs: 144
Highest 10% Earn:
$168,000
Location Quotient:
1.57

3. Oregon

Total Professor Of Biology Jobs: 219
Highest 10% Earn:
$142,000
Location Quotient:
1.85
Full List Of Best States For Professors Of Biology

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Top Professor Of Biology Employers

Most Common Employers For Professor Of Biology

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Columbia University in the City of New York$96,983$46.632
2Brandeis University$84,462$40.612
3Dallas County Schools$74,123$35.642
4University of Alaska$73,958$35.562
5Rutgers University$73,079$35.132
6El Paso Community College$71,058$34.162
7University of Houston$70,142$33.723
8Lincoln University$68,401$32.893
9Prince George's Community College$68,122$32.753
10Emory & Henry College$68,068$32.732