My college will not tenure a person unless he or she has the "terminal
degree in the field." Some people argue that an Ed.D. or similar
non-Ph.D. degree is a terminal degree, but my college typically will not
accept that outside of the education department. If you have an Ed.D.
you might be able to get tenure in an education department. You might
even be able to get tenure in a physics department that specifically is
looking for someone work with physics education students. But if you
want to be an ordinary physics professor, we would require a Ph.D. in
physics in order to be tenured as a physics professor.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu