<p>If you look at the profiles of UChicago professors, they usually have a huge number of publications in respected journals, often over a hundred. Anyone who understands how much effort it takes to publish even a single article will appreciate just how accomplished this makes UChicago professors (and also how difficult it is to snag a UChicago research/teaching position).</p>
<p>Full professors at major universities, including top publics, usually make over $120k/year. Getting to that position takes a LOT of time, though, and you usually have to spend 5-10 years as an assistant professor, sometimes at a variety of institutions, before you get promoted to a full professor. And often, you have to spend a few years as a postdoc before you can even snag an assistant professor position. Which means: if you count time spent as a PhD candidate, postdoc, and assistant professor, it usually takes 15-20 years until you can get to be a full professor. Sound frustrating? Yeah, it is.</p>