Well that's what the university's statement implied:
From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School's Senior Lecturers has high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined.
I don't think the public statement does really reflect the feelings that tenured Professors have about Senior Lecturers.
They definitely aren't as high in the internal pecking order.
But the University is sticking to its view that they are to be regarded as professors.
Senior lecturers are regarded as somewhat higher than university administrators. LOL