Name a professor that's known to the HN crowd that's not known because of their book, general media appearance or podcasts.
NYU professor Ken Perlin is best known for his software algorithm which won him an Oscar. Former MIT professor Tom Leighton is CEO of Akamai Technologies. Former UCSF professor Paul Ekman is known for his research of microfacial expressions as a signal of dishonesty; you may have seen the TV show Lie to Me which is loosely based on his work.
He's notable because he's always wrong about everything, to the point you can profit by investing the opposite of what he says.