Professors are not just experts in their respective academic fields — many of them are experts in the field of love, too! 

With many of our professors married or in a long-term partnership, we students can learn a lot from them; after all, most of them have dated successfully at least once! So, here are some professors’ professional dating tips for their students: 

The best relationships are those in which you are exactly the same person with your romantic interest, your friends, and their friends. You don’t have to change anything about yourself to suit their desires or their life. In turn, they should behave the same way whether with their friends or you! Long story short — what you look for in a best friend should be applied to what you look for in a romantic relationship!

-Krista Rompolski

The RIGHT partner will love you completely and unconditionally. You shouldn’t have to hide, fake, or downplay parts of yourself in order to be loved.

-Wedded Bliss

It’s easy to be happy on a fun date, trip, or adventure, but find someone who makes you equally happy on the average night in. There are bound to be more of the latter than the former in life.

-6 Years and Counting

Life is a conversation — find someone who you can talk to for hours, but also someone who can be happy sitting next to you in silence.

-Lucky in Love

Communicate.

-Anonymous

Leave your phone at home! Make eye contact and ask questions! If you share a bar of chocolate, break it into pieces before you open the wrapper. Open the wrapper, don’t touch the chocolate, and offer a piece to your date.

-Dr. Khristina Haddad, political science

If you’re going to graduate school, wait to have your first serious date until then. That’s where you will meet all kinds of like-minded people. You find people who like to read, watch movies, and play Scrabble with a glass of wine on a Friday night! (Plus, waiting gives guys a couple of years to mature — they need it.)

-Graduated Dater