It's just what he does, I guess. Academics are paid to think of crazy shit, with no requirement to provide any usefulness or concrete solutions. They leave the detail to the engineers ... I reckon it's got to rank up there with top jobs in the world, really. Just think about shit all day. Excellent.
Actually, the best job title I ever saw was in a music college. There was a woman there who's door had a brass plaque which simply said, "Head of Jazz". How cool is that.
In the Natural History Museum in London, they have a convention of informally naming someone for the species or even genus in which they have expertise. The higher up the chain you go, the more senior you are - so 'plant man' far outranks 'potato woman'. Then popularity plays a part as well - 'dinosaur woman' is more influential than 'fish man' even though fish man has more species etc. (Fish Man is actually a very funny, super cool dude who re-pickled Damien Hirst's shark when it started going off because the great artist had used the wrong pickling stuff ...)
I love this set-up, and am convinced, somewhere in a wet, dank, Victorian basement, there is a 'banisteriopsis caapi man'. If not, I should think one of us should apply for the post.
The one I liked the best? "Man man." For real.
brilliant. Gotta love academics.