The facts, and only the facts. That’s what turns the Professor on. He’s an intellectual who examines life in all its intricacies. He’s thoughtful. He’s logical. He’s likely introverted. And he’s the man everyone turns to for answers. Think Sherlock Holmes, only with more sex appeal.

The Professor is a lover of books. He may be socially and emotionally inept because, well, he’s just not practiced at real life. He lives in his mind and this is both a curse and a blessing for him.

Here are some of the Professor’s better qualities:

- He’s usually quite vulnerable because he’s not practiced in disguising his feelings or protecting his heart. When he falls, he falls hard–and completely.

- He’s an educated man who knows how to use his smarts. He’s an expert in his field of study.

- He’s a thinker. No rash decisions for this man. He will ponder, assess, and make an analytical decision based on facts and evidence.

Just like the other heroes, the Professor also has some ‘warts’.

- ‘It’s my way or the highway’. This is the attitude that can get the Professor in trouble. He knows he’s right and doesn’t like trying new things. Change is not something he relishes.

- He might know how to kiss a woman–in theory–but in practice the Professor is woefully inexperienced. He removes himself from center stage, preferring to be the observer, but this leaves him a bit socially inept.

- He lives in his mind–and in his own world. He’s an expert in whatever he studies, but he’s often ignorant of the life brimming right outside his front door.

So many Professors exist in movies and TV. Consider these:

He’s the Professor of many a girl’s dreams. Smart, sexy, and rugged, all in one.

Harry Potter is the newsest addition to the Professor category. A wizard Professor, that is.

Kelsey Grammer, playing Dr. Frasier Crane, is an endearing Professor.

Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) in Shawshank Redemption. Dufresne is not a hardened criminal but a soft-spoken banker, convicted of killing his wife and her lover. Unlike almost everyone else in Shawshank, Andy is innocent, but he survives the hardships of prison life for twenty years before managing to escape–while still staying true to himself and retaining hope for his future. Even though this isn’t a love story, one can’t help but hope that Andy eventually finds his true love on the beach in Zihuatanejo.

Jamie (played by Colin Firth) in Love Actually is a reticent writer trying to overcome heartache by isolating himself in a villa in France. Firth ends up falling in love with his Portuguese housekeeper even though neither one speaks the other’s language.