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<p>As others have mentioned, what you describe here is a tenured professor (or tenure-track professor). That happens to be one of the most difficult jobs to attain, as there is very little turnover in the profession since professors tend to really like their job and usually only leave for retirement or because they have died. Couple that with the bleak funding picture that keeps departments from expanding right now and it just means there are a lot of candidates for each job opening. In short, no, you are not guaranteed a professorship just because you got a PhD.</p>
<p>That said, it hasn’t stopped me from making that my goal. The funding environment will improve eventually and I do know there are many engineering schools looking to expand as soon as it does, but who knows when that will be.</p>