Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings.

How do you get professor title?

In the United States and Canada, the title of professor applies to most post-doctoral academics, so a larger percentage are thus designated. In these areas, professors are scholars with doctorate degrees (typically PhD degrees) or equivalent qualifications who teach in four-year colleges and universities.

Is a professor higher than a doctor?

'Dr' denotes someone who has studied for, and been awarded, a PhD, so it denotes an academic qualification: the holder of the highest university degree. ... 'Professor' doesn't denote a qualification but an academic staff grade – the most senior one.