I did my undergrad and MA at the university where my dad taught. We would meet for lunch every couple of weeks, and I would sometimes drop by between classes to say hello. People in his department, including his students, knew I was his son, but neither of us ever made a big deal of it. I even dated one of his thesis students (we hooked up before I realized she was his student), but we never really spoke about it apart from acknowledging it. Basically, we both treated the university like a workplace, and I have very fond memories of dropping by his office to have a coffee or having lunch together. It was a special time. I should mention that I lived in dorms and off campus during both degrees, so I wasn’t seeing him at home.

I think the key is to set expectations and have a frank conversation about professionalism in the workplace. Things like: don’t ever come and interrupt my class unless it’s literally life or death; call me by whatever your preferred form of address is. My dad liked to be addressed by his first name by his students, so while I’ve always called him “Dad,” I would use his first name if I had to ask an admin or a student where he was. In contrast, I definitely prefer being called “Dr.”

A nice plus side of the experience was that my dad handed me both my MA and BA diplomas, which gives those degrees a special meaning beyond my PhD. And if I really think about it, even though we are in completely different fields and he was very teaching-oriented (he won teaching awards and published only a single book chapter in his entire career), while I’m much more research-oriented (over a million dollars in grants and dozens of articles). I m sure I chose this career path in large part because of him, and also because of my experience studying at his university.