Professors have always complained about teaching undergrads getting in the way of doing research. At most research universities (which tend to draw more famous

Professors have always complained about teaching undergrads getting in the way of doing research. At most research universities (which tend to draw more famous professors), a professor's major source of financial support is from grants to do research. That said, having the proposal shot down by one professor seems to show a lack of entrepreneurial spirit. Surely the faculty in his department had a range of interests, and even if the most natural choice turned him down, there ought to have been others close enough to his interests to make working with them worthwhile.