I'm joining the Cornell faculty!

Note: This will be my last post at Substack. I’m moving to Ghost. I encourage you to subscribe to my new newsletter.

When I announced my intention to join Microsoft Research in 2008, my friends set up a betting pool over how long I would "last" there. No one thought that I'd be at MSR more than 7 years. And here we are, almost 16 years later. I still love MSR. I love my colleagues. I am forever grateful for the opportunities I've had to learn and grow and have impact. And yet, there's been this itch that has been growing for years. When I started my PhD, I didn't know if I would want to teach. But every time I've stepped into a classroom in recent years, I feel like I'm able to make a kind of difference that I can't make just as a researcher. And every time I get a chance to work with students, I leave glowing like a proud mama bear. Over the last few years, I've started to wonder if, when, and where becoming a full-time professor might make sense.

Certain things were essential to me. I wanted to be able to be in an intellectual environment that was just as vivacious as MSR - and just as open to research that didn't fit neatly in a disciplinary box. More importantly, I wanted to be surrounded by kind and generous scholars. I've been truly spoiled at MSR because my colleagues are just so darn awesome. And, much to the confusion of others, I wanted to be in a position where I could be a professor rather than an academic administrator. That last desire turned out to be an odder request than I realized it would be. (Many places only hire senior folks into administrator positions like chair or dean.) 

Last year, I got a call that knocked my socks off. Lee Humphreys from the Cornell Department of Communication reached out to see if there was any way that I might consider joining the Cornell faculty as a professor. As many people close to me have heard me say, I'm convinced that there has to be something in the Ithaca water because everyone up there is just so brilliant and nice. We started talking and I started letting a bud of a dream grow. I went to give a job talk and I felt like I was in academic heaven or an intellectual candy store. There are just so many amazing people there that I would be ecstatic to work with.

And so... It is with a ridiculous amount of joy that I'm going to become a Professor of Communication at Cornell, starting in the fall of 2025!! ::bounce:: OMG I'm so excited. For those who want to read more, Cornell officially announced this move today.

This has been a long time in the works - and is still, in many ways, a long time off. But I don't want to keep it secret anymore. And I want students who might be interested in working with me to know that I'm headed to Cornell. (I'm especially keen to find intellectual misfits who are asking surprising or novel questions about our sociotechnically configured world.) Already, I'm on the books as a Visiting Professor which has allowed me to bask in campus discussions. And when I get to Cornell, I'm going to be teaching two undergrad classes: Data & Society (yes, really. ::giggle::) and Trust & Safety. I'll also teach a grad seminar. 

The hardest part about jumping towards this new opportunity is stepping away from MSR. Luckily, folks at MSR have been overwhelmingly kind and supportive of me making this transition. When I nervously told my boss about my craving to be a professor, she was just so darn gracious. She fully understood that this was an itch I needed to scratch in order to feel whole. She saw my eagerness and said "there's really nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?" Kindly, she encouraged me to stick around as long as possible. So I will be at MSR until next summer, when I make the transition (although I won't take on interns this year, but my dear colleagues in the Social Media Collective are hiring a postdoc and interns!). 

Many people in my world (including my partner) think I'm off my rocker for leaving MSR. After all, the intellectual freedom and opportunities that MSR have afforded me have been mindblowing. But one of my dear colleagues nailed it when she reminded my other colleagues that MSR has been the only real job I've had since grad school. And it's true. Becoming a professor has blossomed in my head in so many ways that I'd regret not trying it, especially at a place as amazing as Cornell. 

In truth, I don't know that I'll ever fully leave MSR. They may stop paying me, but I adore too many people there to not continue collaborations with folks there. And, in practice, I'm pretty crap at fully leaving behind people and organizations that I love anyways. (See the fact that I'm still involved in both Data & Society and Crisis Text Line as "an advisor" even after "leaving" both orgs.) 

After I stepped off the Data & Society board, lots of folks contacted me with all sorts of "but what's the real story?" questions. No one could believe that I would walk away from my baby, but I genuinely believe that founders need to let go to help their babies grow up. And so I'm bracing for another round of "what's REALLY going on?" as I announce my departure from MSR. But the truth of the matter isn't scandalous. It's boring. I simply want to be a professor. And if it turns out that I suck at it, I really hope that MSR will take me back. 

::bounce::bounce::bounce::