What age limit would you put on advisors, if any?

[UndergradDad]

Basically, what I am asking is this: If a program had, say, 3 professors with an AOS in a particular field you are interested in, and 2 of them were already in their sixties, would that play a part in your considerations for choosing grad programs? Not in terms of age discrimination, just in terms of when they might retire.

[Duns Eith]

It depends on how active they are. Your son should ask the grad students at those programs how often the profs of interest teach classes, take on dissertations adviser positions, etc.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Duns Eith

[shifgrethor]

Ask the faculty members if they will take you as a student. They will be honest with you, and if they say yes and then choose to retire, will continue working with you while they are emeritus. No use skirting around the issue, they know it is a concern for students. (just don't say it in a way that is insulting or judgmental)

[TakeruK]

Although my experience is limited, from talking to faculty members, I think many schools now have policies in place that provides incentives for faculty to announce their intention to retire early. For example, one school has an arrangement where faculty members have the option to state their intention to retire 4 years in advance. If they choose to do so, then they will be paid their full salary for four years (and maintain full benefits) but they will be phasing out: working full time for the next 2 years then dropping to half-time for the last 2 years. The school that has this policy is a fairly small school so the 4 years notice is helpful to arrange things like committee membership, class scheduling, and of course, hiring their replacements (academic job searches can take several years and then it might take another year or two for the new person to start). 

So, most people would be up front about this when meeting prospective graduate students, especially if they have already publicly announced their retirement plans. But even if the prof is planning to announce retirement after you start, most professors don't just retire and disappear off the academic world (although some do!). Many professors will at least hang around to graduate their final students and do whatever research they want. I know many emeritus profs who say working for free post-retirement is the best part of their career because now they really can do whatever they want without any other commitments!

There are other considerations such as getting reference letters for jobs after you graduate (emeritus profs / retired people may be harder to track down) and whether the more senior prof is still active in the field. But honestly, these can be problems for profs of any age. In my PhD department, there is a prof in his 70s that is still graduating students, producing papers, teaching classes, playing sports and even organizing hikes and ski trips with students.

[UndergradDad]

Good to hear that - thanks

[rising_star]

Personally, no. Why? Because people move from one school to another, they get sick at a young age randomly, etc. Age isn't the only reason someone may become unable to supervise your work.