A Prof the Right Loves to Hate Will Retire

William Ayers is retiring from the University of Illinois at Chicago, after more than 20 years of teaching there, the Chicago Tribune reported. At the university, Ayers has been a respected education professor, teaching and publishing books on education policy and lecturing nationwide. But his role as a one-time leader of the Weather Underground made him more of a political lightning rod after Republicans attacked him in the 2008 for allegedly close ties to Barack Obama. While the neighbors weren't actually close, the repeated focus on Ayers has led to his lectures off-campus drawing protests and sometimes being called off.