Former President Joe Biden said that he had taught political theory at the University of Pennsylvania while giving a talk at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland. It’s important to keep in mind that even though Biden held the honorary title of Benjamin Franklin presidential professor of the practice at the University of Pennsylvania from February 2017 to April 2019, he didn’t teach semester-long courses as is customary for a professor.
During his tenure at the university, Biden had many public appearances on campus even though he did not give regular classes there. He presented a lecture to graduate students at Wharton Business School, pushed his book “Promise Me, Dad,” engaged in Q&A sessions with university officials, and appeared at public events with special guests, former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Biden made close to $900,000 from the organization during this period.
While Biden was able to engage with scholars and students, his role as an honorary professor differed from that of a traditional professor who oversees administrative responsibilities, does research, and teaches classes. Thus, it may be considered exaggerated that he is a political theory professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
President Biden made this comment in response to recent investigations into the accuracy of some of his statements, which have cast doubt on his knowledge of the facts.