Department Chair- Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering - Virginia Commonwealth University

The Department of Mechanical andNuclear Engineering (MNE) of the College of Engineering (CoE) at VirginiaCommonwealth University (VCU) invites applications for Department Chair starting in 2025.

VirginiaCommonwealth University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged toapply.

VCU’s College ofEngineering was established in 1996 as a public-private partnership to addressthe need for engineering innovation in a 21st-century economy. Under a new Deanof Engineering, the college is undergoing exceptional transformations,expanding its interdisciplinary research and educational offerings and aimingfor excellence in impactful thematic areas of global significance. VCUEngineering’s research collaborations with industry, community, and academicpartners regularly yield breakthroughs in pharmaceutical engineering; smartcities, sustainability, and clean energy; materials development; health care,regenerative medicine, rehabilitation, and medical device development; datascience and better security for cyber and cyber-physical systems. Itsmultidisciplinary, entrepreneurial approach to engineering education immersesundergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in meaningful researchinvestigations throughout their studies.

As part of the premier urban researchuniversity in Virginia’s capital city, VCU’s mechanical and nuclear engineeringdepartment enrolls over 600 students and offers bachelor’s, master’s, anddoctoral programs including a new graduate program in aerospace engineering.  The department faculty collaborate closelywith many VCU schools and departments,including VCU’s MCV (medical) campus and have a robust record ofextramurally-funded research in areas including advanced materials, nuclearscience, thermal fluid systems, computational mechanics, aerosol particletechnology and drug delivery. Our graduate program and online master’s programare ranked among the best in the nation by US News and World Report and attracttop students from across the U.S. and globally. Additional information about the department’s programsand faculty may be found at https://egr.vcu.edu/departments/mechanical/.

VCU Engineering has pioneered several groundbreaking centers, such asthe Medicines for All Institute, an international leader in reducing pharmaceuticals'costs for underserved populations, and the recently established ConvergenceLab, a landmark new $9 million DoD-funded cross-disciplinary institute focusedon solving pressing defense challenges for the U.S. The college leads the Central Virginia Node of theCommonwealth Cyber Initiative, a state supported engine for research,innovation and commercialization of cybersecurity technologies.

VCU is a Carnegie-classified universitywith a very high research activity and is one of the top 100 universities (top50 in public universities) in the U.S. in federal R&D expenditures. TheCollege of Engineering is in an extensive growth stage, significantlyincreasing the number of its faculty as student enrollment rises. Embarked onrapid growth, the MNE department has 30 tenure-track, tenured, and term facultymembers. The MNE department boasts exceptional achievements in various areas,including being ranked top 20 in the nation's Nuclear Engineering programs. Locatedin Richmond, a vibrant, art-filled and culturally rich capital city, VCU isdiverse in backgrounds and experiences, where there is a shared common passionfor engineering, education and stewardship for the communities we represent andserve.

PositionResponsibilities:  Activelywork with faculty in the Department and across the University to identify andpursue research, education, and service innovations.  Demonstrateleadership in recruiting and retaining high-caliber, diverse faculty.  Evaluate faculty and staff performance and makerecommendations for tenure, promotion, reappointment, salary adjustment, andleaves of absence.  Facilitate andencourage grants and contracts from extramural sources.  Encourage improvement of faculty performanceby fostering good teaching and stimulating research, scholarly writing, andcreative activity.  Lead faculty in essential processes that shape thecurriculum and have an impact on the learning of students.  Effectively articulate department and collegevision to internal and external constituencies. Will further develop collaboration with otherdepartments within the college, industry, and the VCU MedicalCampus.  The Department is committed todeveloping and maintaining state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentationsupporting its key research and educational mission. 

Required qualifications: Candidate must have adoctorate in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering or a related area. The candidate will demonstrate management and leadership accomplishments in aprogression of faculty and administrative roles.  The College ofEngineering at VCU champions diversity, equity and inclusion in all that we do.Cultivating an ecosystem where differences are celebrated and our faculty,staff, and students have the opportunity to thrive is at the core of how weoperate. The successful candidate will demonstrate experience that showstheir commitment to fostering such an environment. Candidate mustbe an internationally recognized scholar with distinguished academic recordscommensurate with the rank of a tenured professor. Candidates must have a well-developed scholarly/researchportfolio with evidence of multi-disciplinary applications and external fundingappropriate to complement and expand expertise in the department.

Application Process: Candidates should upload theirapplication, including a cover letter, curriculum vitae, diversity, researchand teaching statements, and the names and e-mail addresses of four references.Reference letters will be requested by the search committee for candidatefinalists. Only complete applications will be considered. Review of applications will start on October 11, 2024 and will continue until filled.Foradditional information, please contact the Chair of the faculty searchcommittee, Nastassja A. Lewinski, Ph.D., email:nalewinski@vcu.edu.

Position Type: Teaching & Research Faculty
Full time equivalent:
Tenure: Tenure Track
Rank: Professor
Months: 12
Department:Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering- College of Engineering

Salary: Commensurate

Contact Information:
Contact Name: Nastassja Lewinski, Ph.D.
Contact Email: nalewinski@vcu.edu