[aecs99]

I personally know two people who quit high paying industry jobs and moved to reputable research grant universities (within US) as Assistant Professors in their late 30s. This was about 8 years ago. Fast forward to the present, one guy is a full professor while the other is still an associate professor. The difference was that one used his expertise and experience to write and get more grants, publish more papers, and is popular for his research (both inside and outside the university). The other is known for his teaching (within the university), took it slow and didn't publish as much.

I also know another guy who got his PhD, moved to academia (research lab and all), quit and moved to gaming industry to code, worked for 5 years, and now moved back to academia (once again, research lab and all). Then there is another person who got his PhD, worked as a post-doc, worked as an Assistant Professor, quit because he didn't enjoy it, and now is working next to me, enjoying an industry position.

I think all of them are truly enjoying what they do. I guess the question for you is what would you like the most?

There are several questions that you'd have to answer for yourself:

(1) Are you in for teaching? Or are you into research, i.e., having freedom in what you work on? Keep in mind that if you join as a Assistant Prof. on a tenure-track role, you'd still have to prove yourself in the long run. This could mean working on some projects that you may/may not enjoy in the short term.

(2) If you are in for the teaching, do you care about where you teach? Community colleges or small universities are always looking for people to teach (as a full time professor, or as a part time lecturer). Do you differentiate between these as much over the love of teaching?

(3) You probably could try out guest lecturing to check if you truly enjoy teaching. Or maybe teach just for a semester, if that is any appealing.

I personally have a PhD, wanted to be in academia for a long time but jumped to industry for numerous personal reasons. This is my 5th year in industry and I love what I work on. However, I still feel that my heart is in academia. To get a reality check, I'll be guest-/co-lecturing several sessions of a course at a public university this fall. I'm curious how things will turn out. Good luck to you too!