This article draws on interview data with Deans/Heads of Schools of Education in the Australian context to explore the question: How is the teacher-educator produced as a category of academic worker? Using critical approaches to discourse analysis, it presents two interlocked storylines woven with varying emphasis through the interviews. First, the teacher-educator is produced as a superhero researcher and teacher, elevated by the expectations of the Excellence in Research for Australia audit/surveillance tools. Second, there is a concomitant struggle to reconcile pressure to research with commitment to meeting the needs of schooling systems, and to addressing the work of the teacher-educator in ethical terms.