WHO IS DAVID DESSLER AND WHAT IS HE DOING?
David Dessler grew up in Houston, Texas. He was an introvert, uncool, and a football fan, as well as an avid follower of both the Beatles and the Who. He attended Rice University and the University of Oklahoma and had his first bout with major depression in his junior year (leading to a medical withdrawal). He survived these early years, as anyone from that time period in his life can confirm, only because he had the protection and guidance of a generous physicist Dad and a cool older sister, Pauline. He bought his first guitar at age 21 and finally graduated from college with a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in History. In 1978, in what was no doubt one of the luckiest breaks anyone this clueless and without direction in life could get, Dessler was accepted to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. He studied under Professor Charles Doran and ultimately defaulted to an academic career after staying in graduate school long enough to earn both an M.A. and ABD (later turned into a Ph.D.).
In early 1984, in what was no doubt one of the luckiest breaks anyone entering academia could have, he received an offer of a two-year, non-renewable visiting position from the Government Department at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. His starting salary was $18,000. Two years later, he got what was certainly the luckiest break a visiting professor with a non-renewable two-year position and no other academic options could get, a tenure-track offer from William & Mary. However, in what everyone agreed at the time was a less fortunate break, the Dean ruled that Dessler's first two years at the College would count toward the tenure clock, meaning the tenure decision was just three years away when he started it. Since Dessler would use one of those years just to complete his dissertation, he would have only two years to get things published, and he was still struggling to gain direction in his adopted field of international relations. Moreover, his teaching load varied between a 3-3 and 4-3.
In early 1984, in what was no doubt one of the luckiest breaks anyone entering academia could have, he received an offer of a two-year, non-renewable visiting position from the Government Department at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. His starting salary was $18,000. Two years later, he got what was certainly the luckiest break a visiting professor with a non-renewable two-year position and no other academic options could get, a tenure-track offer from William & Mary. However, in what everyone agreed at the time was a less fortunate break, the Dean ruled that Dessler's first two years at the College would count toward the tenure clock, meaning the tenure decision was just three years away when he started it. Since Dessler would use one of those years just to complete his dissertation, he would have only two years to get things published, and he was still struggling to gain direction in his adopted field of international relations. Moreover, his teaching load varied between a 3-3 and 4-3.