After being a professor for 10 years, I have decided to hang up my whiteboard markers and move on from academia. This was a tough decision that I struggled with for a while, but now as I am actually doing it, it feels right. Many of you I have already told, others are still hearing about it, so I thought I’d make a proper post about it.

A lot of my reasons are family-related. We are a family with young kids, and want to be closer to grandparents in the next decade. Having three young boys in a town without family around was harder than we thought it would be. A lot of the move also has to do with timing. Given the place I was at ASU, I wanted to make a decision to either ramp up or ramp down. Based on many discussions with my wife, we’re moving on.

I’m not sure what I’m doing next, but I know where we’re doing it. We’re moving North of the Bay Area, to Petaluma, CA, where I hope to start a business centered around the things I found the most joy in as a Professor – helping others make their projects work – through technology, design, and robotics. I’m going to spend some time talking to folks; I need to learn a lot – how to get started, what to spend my time on, and who to spend it with. I would really like to talk with you, too.

I am wrapping up this semester with a lot of nostalgia. I want to thank everyone at ASU for supporting me, first as a young professor who needed a lot of care and feeding, and more recently as a colleague, peer, and even mentor. I have worked with wonderful folks at my two academic homes (the Polytechnic School and then MSN), and I wish you all the best. Thanks especially to Binil Starly for understanding my situation and working with me in good faith. It made this last semester go well.

You haven’t heard the last of me. I’m sure I’ll be posting more on my website and sharing on LinkedIn, so get your “mute” button ready. And, even though I haven’t called you out by name, thanks for investing your time in me. I’ve really valued the path I took and am glad you were a part of it – it hasn’t been wasted.

Sincerely,

Dan Aukes