Galileo also had issues with the Pope over physics. Galois was more of a mathematician than a physicist, and his duel was political so it doesn’t count. The near duel between advocates of Marie Curie and Paul Langevin was actually over prestige as physicists but that had degenerated into rumors before the challenge. All in all, physicists seem to be quite willing to put their lives on the line over a question of honor or of astrophysics. Still, a physics professor should stick to the subject matter, at least in the classroom. This professor especially is not good enough at physics to have any business expressing or permitting personal opinions on science in front of students.
I would bet that this “physics professor” expounds a lot a lot about global warming and “green energy”.