Biology Department Head

Biology Department Head
Job no: 533140
Work type: Faculty - Tenure Track
Location: Eugene, OR
Categories: Administrative/Professional, Biology/Life Sciences, Executive/Management/Director, Instruction
Department: Biology
Rank: Professor
Annual Basis: 9 Month

position open until filled.

Position Announcement
The University of Oregon invites applications for the position of Head of Department of Biology. The joint administrative and academic position is based at the University of Oregon's main campus in Eugene, Oregon, and will be appointed as a tenured full professor in the Department of Biology. A successful Department Head will bring an ambitious and compelling vision for the role of Head of the Department of Biology at the University of Oregon. The ideal candidate will have a broad interest in the life sciences and enthusiasm to engage with colleagues across diverse subdisciplines of biology. They will show a strong commitment to the educational mission of a public university. They will demonstrate a robust record of advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion. They will bring an internationally recognized record of research accomplishment with a strong history of research impact and mentorship. The area of research focus is open, though a successful candidate's expertise should complement and advance the research expertise of the department and university.

The Department Head will take leadership roles spanning research, teaching, and community. Key roles for the department head include ensuring that the department's research, teaching, and service missions are met; leading and working effectively with faculty, students, and staff; representing the Department of Biology to the public, the broader academy, the university administration, and other stakeholders; leading a successful and collaborative research lab that integrates with current strengths and expands the research impact of the department; directing the teaching mission for Biology undergraduate and graduate education that enhances recruitment and retention of students; fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels from public outreach to education to faculty development; building a healthy and respectful community, including recruiting and supporting all faculty, staff, and students; providing oversight of institutional policy within the department. The position will be for a term of five years with the possibility of renewal. The applicant should currently be in a position equivalent to a Full Professor.

Department or Program Summary
The Department of Biology consists of ~50 faculty spanning diverse research and teaching areas including ecological structure and management, evolutionary mechanisms, microbial communities and their hosts, molecular structure and mechanisms, molecular genetics, cell biology, developmental and regenerative biology, neural circuits and computation, natural ethology, and theoretical and computational approaches to modeling and predicting living systems. The Department's educational mission focuses on undergraduate and graduate coursework, lab work, mentorship, and training. Biology career instructors and tenure-track faculty collaboratively contribute to the curriculum of the Department. The Department's mission is supported by ~15 expert administrative staff. Most research faculty are affiliated with one of four institutes, the Institute of Neuroscience, the Institute of Molecular Biology, the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. Faculty members also participate extensively in related centers of excellence including the META Center for Host-Microbe Systems Biology, the Center for Genome Function, and the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.

Minimum Requirements

• Terminal degree in Biology, or equivalent degree in a related field (e.g. PhD, MD).

• Twelve years experience post-terminal degree, or rank of Full Professor or equivalent held at another institution.

About the University
The University of Oregon (UO) is an R1 institution, a member of the Association of American Universities, and enrolls ~20,000 undergraduate and ~4,000 graduate students. The UO recently joined the Big Ten Conference, with student athlete competition within the new group starting in 2024. UO will also join the Big Ten Academic Alliance, bringing together research and academic institutions sharing a common mission of research, graduate, professional, and undergraduate teaching, and public service. The 295-acre main UO campus features state-of-the-art facilities in an arboretum-like setting, with satellite campuses in Portland and on the coast in Charleston. The main campus is located in Eugene, a vibrant city of ~200,000 within easy traveling distance of the Pacific Coast, the Cascade Mountains, Portland, and the rest of the Pacific Northwest. The University supports its educational mission through modern libraries, teaching, laboratory classrooms, field research opportunities, and extensive undergraduate and graduate mentored training. The University supports its research mission through generous research space and state-of-the-art Core Facilities including the Genomics and Cell Characterization Core Facility, the Imaging Microscopy Core, the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization, and the Research Advanced Computing Services. Clinical and bioengineering opportunities are supported via collaborations with Oregon Health Sciences University and the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.