American Association of University Professors

American Association of University Professors

Formation	1915
Type	Nonprofit charitable organization
Headquarters	Washington D.C.
Location	United States
Membership	Professors and professional university staff
Official language	English
Executive Director	Nancy Long (interim)
Key people	Todd Wolfson, President
Website	www.aaup.org

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.

The AAUP's stated mission is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. Founded in 1915 by Arthur O. Lovejoy and John Dewey, the AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in the country's colleges and universities.

History

In the 1890s and early 1900s, there were a number of attempts to dismiss college faculty members from their academic posts, including a failed attempt to dismiss Richard Ely at the University of Wisconsin in 1894. The following year Edward Bemis was dismissed from a post at the University of Chicago and George D. Herron from one at Grinnell College in 1899.

Perhaps most prominent of these incidents was the 1900 dismissal of eugenicist, economics professor, and sociologist Edward Alsworth Ross from Stanford University. Ross's work criticizing the employment of Chinese laborers by the Southern Pacific Railroad, run by Stanford's founder Leland Stanford, led Leland's widow, Jane Stanford, to intervene and, over the objections of the president and the faculty, to succeed in getting Ross eventually dismissed. A number of faculty colleagues resigned in protest, including Arthur O. Lovejoy.

Fifteen years later, In January 1915, the AAUP formed as the "Association of University Professors" after a series of meetings held at the Chemists' Club in New York City. John Dewey would serve as President of the organization, with Lovejoy, who had by then moved on to Johns Hopkins, serving as Secretary.

In February 1915, the dismissals of two professors and two instructors at the University of Utah by President Joseph T. Kingsbury—and the subsequent resignations of 14 faculty members in protest—launched the AAUP's first institutional academic freedom inquest. An earlier 1911 controversy at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, had involved some of these same professors.

The AAUP published, in December 1915, its inaugural volume of the Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, including the document now known as the 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure—the AAUP's foundational statement on the rights and corresponding obligations of members of the academic profession. Since 2010 the AAUP has published the Journal of Academic Freedom, an online-only open-access annual periodical.

In 2024, AAUP president Todd Wolfson referred to United States Senator JD Vance as a “fascist.” The remark was in relation to Vance’s conduct during that year's presidential election, during which Vance was the vice presidential nominee.

Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure

AAUP

As the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) details the history of their policy on academic freedom and tenure, the association maintains that there "are still people who want to control what professors teach and write." The AAUP's "Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure" is the definitive articulation of the principles and practices and is widely accepted throughout the academic community. The association's procedures ensuring academic due process remain the model for professional employment practices on campuses throughout the country.

It played a pivotal role in defending academic freedom through its involvement in landmark legal cases. One notable case is Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957), where the Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged the essential role of academic freedom as a protected right under the First Amendment. This case set a precedent that significantly influenced university policies across the United States, affirming the importance of academic discourse and inquiry without governmental interference. The AAUP's advocacy in such cases underscores its commitment to protecting the academic community against infringements on intellectual freedom.

The association suggests that "The principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure" date back to a 1925 conference. R. M. O'Neil's history suggests that the formal origins of the statement of academic freedom in the United States begins with an earlier 1915 "declaration of principles," when the "fledgling" AAUP first convened.

While it seems common sense that academic freedom aligns with the values of democratic rights and free speech, O'Neil also notes the ideas of academic freedom at the time were not entirely well received, and even the New York Times criticized the declaration, but that today the statement remains "almost as nearly inviolate as the U.S. Constitution." The AAUP notes that following a series of conferences beginning in 1934, the association officially adopted the "1925 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure," which started to become institutionalized in universities only in the 1940s.

The AAUP offers the original principles, including the 1940 interpretations of the statement and a 1970 interpretation, which codified evaluation of the principles since the time they were adopted. The statement is straightforward, based on three principles of academic freedom. Briefly summarized, the first principle states that teachers are entitled to "full freedom in research and in publication of the results" and that the issue of financial gains from research depends on the relationship with the institution. The second principle of academic freedom is that teachers should have the same freedom in the classroom. The third asserts that college and university professors are citizens and should be free to speak and write as citizens "free from institutional censorship."

Based upon five principles, the statement on academic tenure is equally simple and to the point. The first principle maintains that the terms of appointment are to be stated in writing. The second details the conditions and length of time professors are given to attain tenure. The third notes that during the probationary period before attaining tenure, the teacher "should have all the academic freedom that all other members of the faculty have." Detailing terms for appeal of the decision to deny tenure, the fourth point notes that both faculty and the institution's governing board should judge whether tenure is to be granted or denied. The final point suggests that if the faculty member is not granted tenure appointment for reasons of financial restraint upon the university, the "financial exigency should be demonstrably bona fide."

Noting the Supreme Court case Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967), which established the constitutionality and legal basis for the AAUP's principles of academic freedom, the 1970 interpretation believes that the statement is not a "static code but a fundamental document to set a framework of norms to guide adaptations to changing times and circumstances." The commentary iterates key points of the 1940 interpretations. The statement does not discourage controversy but emphasizes professionalism, believing that professors should be careful "not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject."

The interpretive statement also maintains that while professors have the rights of citizens, both scholars and educational officers "should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances," noting that every effort should be made "to indicate they are not speaking for the institution." The comments provide for further insights into the evaluation for tenure appointment and direct to the "1968 Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure," which recommends policy based upon the 1940 statement and a later documents on standards for faculty dismissal.

Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities

Main article: Governance in higher education

The American Association of University Professors published its first "Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities" in 1920, "emphasizing the importance of faculty involvement in personnel decisions, selection of administrators, preparation of the budget, and determination of educational policies. Refinements to the statement were introduced in subsequent years, culminating in the 1966 "Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities."

The statement was jointly formulated by the American Association of University Professors, the American Council on Education (ACE), and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). The statement clarifies the respective roles of governing boards, faculties, and administrations. The document does not provide for a "blueprint" to the governance of higher education.

Also, the purpose of the statement was not to provide principles for relations with industry and government although it establishes direction on "the correction of existing weaknesses." Rather, the statement aimed to establish a shared vision for the internal governance of institutions. Student involvement is not addressed in detail. The statement concerns general education policy and internal operations with an overview of the formal roles for governing structures in the organization and management of higher education.

Conflict with religious institutions

Scholars have criticized the AAUP's "antipathy toward religious colleges and universities." The AAUP has censured numerous religious institutions, including Brigham Young University and The Catholic University of America. Others have criticized the AAUP's current stance regarding academic freedom in religious institutions as contradicting its 1940 statement on academic freedom, which permits religious institutions to place limits on academic freedom if those limitations are clearly stated. In 1970, the AAUP criticized its 1940 statement, positing that most religious institutions "no longer need or desire" to place limits on academic freedom.

In 1988, the AAUP offered up another interpretation, stating that the "1970 de-endorsement clause" requires a religious institution to forfeit its "right to represent itself as an 'authentic seat of higher learning.'" But the AAUP's Committee A did not endorse it, thus the issue on whether a religious institution can place limits on academic freedom if those limitations are clearly stated appears to be unresolved.

Contingent faculty

In recent decades, the AAUP has added a focus on addressing the dramatic increase in faculty positions off the tenure track. An increasing percentage of faculty has become "contingent," or non-tenure track. Many are hired into part-time positions, often multiple part-time positions which together equal a full-time load or more, but with dramatically lower pay, little job security, and few or no fringe benefits. As of 2005, 48 percent of all faculty served in part-time appointments, and non-tenure-track positions of all types accounted for 68 percent of all faculty appointments in American higher education.

The AAUP has released a number of reports on contingent faculty: in 2008, a report on accreditors' guidelines pertaining to part-time faculty and a report of an investigation involving alleged violations of the academic freedom and due process rights of a full-time contingent faculty member; and in 2006, an index providing data on the number of contingent faculty at various colleges. Also in 2006, the AAUP adopted a new policy dealing with the job protections that should be afforded to part-time faculty members. In 2003, it had released its major policy statement Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession. The statement makes new recommendations in two areas: increasing the proportion of faculty appointments that are on the tenure line as well as improving job security and due process protections for those with contingent appointments.

Collective bargaining

In 2009, AAUP began its reorganization the formal separation of the previously-muddied relationship between its thinktank, its lobbying in non-organized chapters (called Advocacy), and its support for Collective Bargaining Chapters. AAUP currently represents approximately 70 affiliates across the United States in such institutions as University of Connecticut, Portland State University, University of Alaska, the California State University system, Rutgers, University of Oregon, Eastern Michigan University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Rhode Island, State University of New York, and many others in both the public and private sector, as well as a large number of affiliate organizations in which affiliation is shared with other labor unions, the most common dual affiliation being with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Unlike the American Federation of Teachers and other more traditional labor unions, AAUP is not a servicing parent organization. All of its affiliates (at least those that are not affiliated with any other labor union) are independent organizations that completely provide for all their own services, such as staff, attorneys, consultants and organizers. Also, the AAUP does not have the power of receivership in its constitution and so it can not take over any of its affiliates, supplant any of its elected leaders, or dictate policy or bargaining proposals or agenda upon them.

Several university chapters have been involved in labor strikes, including at Boston University in 1979, Wright State University and Oregon Tech in 2021, and Rutgers University in 2023.

Sanctioned Institutions

The AAUP maintains a list of of sanctioned institutions who have infringed university governance standards through "serious departures by the administration and/or governing board from generally accepted standards of college and university government." Only 14 colleges in the United States are on the list.

Community Colleges	Colleges and Universities	Graduate Schools
Miami Dade College (2000)	Elmira College (1995)	Vermont Law and Graduate School (2019)
Union County College (2016)	Antioch University (2010)
Spartanburg Community College (2024)	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ( 2011)
	Canisius University (2021)
	Keuka College (2021)
	Marian University, Wisconsin (2021)
	National University (2021)
	Wittenberg University (2021)
	Illinois Wesleyan University (2021)
	New College of Florida (2024)

Leadership

Presidents

Number	Name	Dates	Subject	Institution
1	John Dewey	1915–1916	Philosophy	Columbia University
2	John Henry Wigmore	1916–1917	Law	Northwestern University
3	Frank Thilly [1]	1917–1918	Philosophy	Cornell University
4	John Merle Coulter	1918–1919	Botany	University of Chicago
5	Arthur Oncken Lovejoy	1919–1920	Philosophy	Johns Hopkins University
6	Edward Capps	1920–1921	Philology	Princeton University
7	Vernon Lyman Kellogg	1921 (acting)	Zoology	National Research Council
8	Edwin R. A. Seligman	1921–1922	Political Science	Columbia University
9	J. V. Denney	1922–1924	English	Ohio State University
10	Armin Otto Leuschner	1924–1926	Astronomy	University of California, Berkeley
11	William T. Semple	1926–1928	Classics	University of Cincinnati
12	Henry Crew	1928–1930	Physics	Northwestern University
13	William B. Munro	1930–1932	Government	Harvard University
14	Walter Wheeler Cook	1932–1933	Law	Johns Hopkins University [2]
15	Samuel Alfred Mitchell	1934–1936	Astronomy	University of Virginia
16	Anton Julius Carlson	1936–1938	Physiology	University of Chicago
17	Mark H. Ingraham	1938–1940	Mathematics	University of Wisconsin
18	Frederick S. Deibler	1940–1942	Economics	Northwestern University
19	William Thomas Laprade	1942–1944	History	Duke University
20	Quincy Wright	1944–1946	International Law	University of Chicago
21	Edward C. Kirkland	1946–1948	History	Bowdoin College
22	Ralph H. Lutz	1948–1950	History	Stanford University
23	Richard Harrison Shryock	1950–1952	History	Johns Hopkins University
24	Fred B. Millett	1952–1954	English Literature	Wesleyan University
25	William E. Britton	1954–1956	Law	University of Illinois
26	Helen C. White	1956–1958	English	University of Wisconsin
27	Hiram Bentley Glass	1958–1960	Biology	Johns Hopkins University
28	Ralph F. Fuchs	1960–1962	Law	Indiana University
29	Fritz Machlup	1962–1964	Economics	Princeton University
30	David Fellman	1964–1966	Political Science	University of Wisconsin
31	Clark Byse	1966–1968	Law	Harvard University
32	Ralph S. Brown, Jr.	1968–1970	Law	Yale University
33	Sanford H. Kadish	1970–1972	Law	University of California, Berkeley
34	Walter Adams	1972–1974	Economics	Michigan State University
35	William Warner Van Alstyne	1974–1976	Law	Duke University
36	Peter O. Steiner	1976–1978	Law and Economics	University of Michigan
37	Martha Friedman	1978–1980	Library	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
38	Henry T. Yost	1980–1981	Biology	Amherst College
39	Robert A. Gorman	1981–1982	Law	University of Pennsylvania
40	Victor J. Stone	1982–1984	Law	University of Illinois, Urbana
41	Paul H. L. Walter	1984–1986	Chemistry	Skidmore College
42	Julius G. Getman	1986–1988	Law	University of Texas at Austin
43	Carol Simpson Stern	1988–1990	Performance Studies	Northwestern University
44	Barbara Bergmann	1990–1992	Economics	American University
45	Linda Ray Pratt	1992–1994	English	University of Nebraska
46	James Perley	1994–1998	Biology	College of Wooster
47	James Richardson	1998–2000	Judicial Studies	University of Nevada, Reno
48	Jane Buck	2000–2006	Psychology	Delaware State University
49	Cary Nelson	2006–2012	English	University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
50	Rudy Fichtenbaum	2012–2020	Economics	Wright State University
51	Irene Mulvey	2020–2024	Mathematics	Fairfield University
52	Todd Wolfson	2024–Present	Media Studies	Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Secretaries, general secretaries, and executive directors

Apart from the elected leadership, the AAUP has been led in its day to day operations by what has been at various times called a secretary, later a general secretary, and most recently an executive director, and includes the following individuals:

Name	Dates	Title
Arthur Oncken Lovejoy	1915–1929	Secretary
Harry Walter Tyler	1929–1933	General Secretary
Walter Wheeler Cook	1934–1935	General Secretary
Harry Walter Tyler	1935–1936	Acting General Secretary
Ralph Himstead	1936–1955	General Secretary
George P. Shannon	1955	Acting General Secretary
Ralph F. Fuchs	1955–1957	General Secretary
Robert K. Carr	1957–1958	General Secretary
William P. Fidler	1958–1967	General Secretary
Bertram H. Davis	1967–1974	General Secretary
Joseph Duffey	1974–1976	General Secretary
Jordan E. Kurland	1977	Acting General Secretary
Morton S. Baratz	1977–1979	General Secretary
Martha Friedman	1979–1980	Interim General Secretary
Irving J. Spitzberg, Jr.	1980–1984	General Secretary
Ernst Benjamin	1984–1994	General Secretary
Mary A. Burgan	1994–2004	General Secretary
Roger W. Bowen	2004–2007	General Secretary
Ernst Benjamin	2007–2008	Interim General Secretary
Gary Rhoades	2009–2011	General Secretary
Martin Snyder	2011–2013	Senior Associate General Secretary
Julie Schmid	2013–2023	Executive Director
Nancy Long	2023–2024	Interim Executive Director
Aaron Nielson	2024–present	Interim Executive Director

See also

• National Conference of University Professors (UK)
• Professors in the United States
• University organizations (annotated list)

External links

• Official website