As a bit of a joke (not to discount your very unpleasant experience) but most departments do not make their most productive and important members department cha

As a bit of a joke (not to discount your very unpleasant experience) but most departments do not make their most productive and important members department chair! It’s more of a “someone has to do it and it’s your turn” situation. I’m saying this in part bc sometimes people outside of academia feel like “being department chair” means the person is super prestigious or well respected within the department or outside of it. Generally that’s not actually the case. It’s a bit of a demotion in terms of what academics care about. (Frequently it comes with a raise bc you need to offer a substantial carrot to get people to even take the position.)