Life not being fair should come as no surprise. People quickly becoming stuck up when they are in a position of authority shouldn't either. It's actually very very easy to do.
I used to be a teacher for a short while back in the day and I did notice changing me. Spending the majority of your time in a room talking about a subject you are supposed to be the authority on messes with your head like it or not. I was in my mid twenties and I started catching myself treating people like my parents with a very special teachery condescension, explaining things I was not an expert on to them as if they were children. It goes without saying I started checking myself for that a lot, but I'm sure it still had some effect. University professors are most probably prone to the exact same thing.