NPR: U. of Chicago Says Obama Was Considered a Professor

U. of Chicago Says Obama Was Considered a Professor

Sen. Barack Obama has been accused, particularly by the Clinton camp, of exaggerating his resume by saying that he was a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago law school. His detractors say he was no such thing.

Well, it looks like he has the school on his side.

The university's law school issued a press release today to clarify Obama's position. The release says he was a "senior lecturer" but that is considered at the school as being the same as a professor.

Here is the press release.

"The Law School has received many media requests about Barack Obama, especially about his status as 'Senior Lecturer.' From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School's Senior Lecturers have high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined."

12:00 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Senator Obama makes a claim and it is verified, Senator Clinton makes a claim and it is shown to be not quite truthful. Hmmm.

Sent by Michael Jacobs | 12:42 PM ET | 03-28-2008

Nice try Hillary. They are relentless. How do people not see through her? She is a megalomaniac driven solely by her ambition.

Sent by Tim | 1:13 PM ET | 03-28-2008

Reporting on this campaign's politics could benefit from a lot more clarity. Your story is not clear. The "Clinton camp" and Obama "detractors" - were these people actually part of the Clinton organization, or were they just unknown Clinton supporters? In the latter case, Clinton has no control over what her supporters say. On the other hand, if this was being said by her organization, your article should say so. And, they should be held accountable for not checking the facts of their accusations.

Sent by Gary | 1:45 PM ET | 03-28-2008

Another lame attempt by HRC to soil Barack Obama. Too bad for her he really was a law PROFESSOR in the 1990s and NOT too busy dodging sniper fire in Bosnia.

Sent by Nick | 5:15 AM ET | 03-30-2008

Gary--yes this was a supposed "exaggeration" by Obama deliberately floated by HRC's campaign last week in an attempt to deflect her "misstatements" on Bosnia.

They sent an e-mail to the media with a "list" they compiled of Obama's "misstatements" -- one of them being the fact that he misrepresented (in their view) the fact that we was a law professor at U Chicago.

The reporters took the bait and began following the "lead" (as they always do when it comes to her) and U Chicago was so overwhelmed w/ media requests that they decided to release a general press statement for everyone.

Clearer?

Sent by Nick | 5:20 AM ET | 03-30-2008

"Sen. Barack Obama has been accused, particularly by the Clinton camp, of exaggerating his resume "

Imagine! "EXAGGERATING"! How could he! Is there no shame left in this world?

"exaggerating", Sen Clinton may assert, is worse that an outright lie OR a hallucination OR harboring a persecution complex arising from persistent sniper fire (which the vast right-wing conspiracy, Obama and everyone else outside her family PRETEND they cannot see !)

But it was no exaggeration. Yet would Hillary Clinton, of the discovery and 'due diligence' profession, care find it out before her tirade?
Truth? It depends, she would say, on what you mean by "truth".

Sent by cfukara | 3:30 AM ET | 03-31-2008

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