ABSTRACT
As a senior full professor and department chair for fourteen years, I have grown to truly appreciate the value of professional champions and mentors. Mentors and champions are individuals who know you and understand your professional profile and interests. Mentors serve as a source of advice to you, whereas professional champions are individuals who keep up with your professional growth and recommend you for opportunities or bring opportunities to your attention. Of course, the same person can, and often does, serve both roles. I have mentored many people throughout my career. But I also find that I myself am a “champion” for those whose research and accomplishments and professional profile “grab me.” The people I champion may not even know that I am one of their distant fans and often a “champion in the room” on their behalf. I expect I myself have benefitted from many champions over the years, some I know and some I infer. In this article, I will speak further to these two basic ideas as well as a bit about leadership in general.
