<p>“The fact that we are talking about two leaders of their field here has no relevance on their ability to teach introductory or even advanced undergraduate courses, a task which 1,000s of professors can do with relatively equal ease.”</p>
<p>Exactly! And that segues into a related point: Brilliance, achievement, and academic super-star status do not necessarily correlate with teaching ability.</p>
<p>In research-oriented institutions, teaching ability isn’t even as <em>prized</em> as much as it is in teaching-oriented institutions. Yes, there are how-to-teach classes. (My DH went through one.) But, at Harvard, at least, those classes are pretty cursory…or at least, they were, back in our day. I’m sure Harvard cares about teaching ability…but I’m not sure how <em>much</em> they care.</p>
<p>Geniuses aren’t always great teachers. Not by a long shot.</p>