Position Title: Professor and Chair - Department of Agronomy
Appointment Type: Faculty
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, seeks a Professor and Chair for the Department of Agronomy. Nominations and applications are sought for a visionary leader with demonstrated capacity to lead the department in its missions of teaching, research, extension, outreach, and service in developing and applying science to advance sustainable crop production and to protect soil and water resources.
The department and college are consistently among the most highly ranked programs nationally and internationally and have a culture of excellence and accomplishment. The Agronomy Department's portfolio includes an undergraduate degree in Agronomy that offers a flexible curriculum with high-impact practices, including a learning community, experiential learning, undergraduate teaching fellowships, undergraduate research opportunities, study-abroad courses, and career preparation.
The department offers MS and PhD programs in Agricultural Meteorology, Crop Production and Physiology, Plant Breeding, and Soil Science, as well as offering online MS degrees in both Agronomy and Plant Breeding.
The department's programs emphasize a systems focus that integrates agronomic productivity and environmental sustainability, expanding and synthesizing disciplinary knowledge for optimal impact on production systems as well as on soil and water quality. Research, teaching and extension activities utilize high-capacity greenhouses, growth chambers, analytical instrumentation, and extensive facilities at research stations near Ames and around the state of Iowa. In research and extension activities, the department's faculty, staff, and students actively engage with farmers, the agribusiness community, and other stakeholders. Research is funded by grants from governmental (federal and state) agencies, agricultural industry, commodity groups, and nonprofits. In external funding, the Agronomy Department ranks highly among all other departments at ISU. Much research is also conducted in collaboration with allied organizations at the federal and state level as well as private and nonprofit groups. In addition, the Chair oversees a substantial endowment that supports all departmental missions.
Responsibilities:
- Lead and supervise faculty and staff in the department.
- Provide visionary leadership for the department to serve the needs of diverse faculty, staff, students, stakeholders, and citizens to fulfill the land-grant mission of the department, college, and university.
- Stimulate and facilitate departmental excellence and impact in all aspects of teaching, research, extension, outreach, and service by promoting activities that enable local-to-global engagement, innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.
- Recruit, nurture, and retain faculty members who excel in their individual scientific and academic activities as well as in collaborative efforts with other faculty in the department and university.
- Initiate and oversee strategic planning activities that engage the entire department to maintain a focus on the future of its programs.
- Ensure sound fiscal and personnel management to achieve the mission of the department in compliance with college and university policies and practices.
- Encourage the development of academic curricula that are dynamic and relevant to undergraduate and graduate students, preparing them to excel professionally in their careers with skills in cross-disciplinary thinking and the capacity for innovative leadership.
- Serve the department and the college in accomplishing their missions as a collaborative member of the college leadership team.
- Communicate with and enhance departmental and college purposes within Iowa State University and to external stakeholders.
Required Minimum Qualifications:
- Ph.D. or equivalent in any of the areas of expertise in the department or a closely aligned field.
- A record of scholarly activities that qualify for appointment as a tenured faculty member in CALS at the rank of Professor at the time of application.
- Evidence of successful administrative, managerial or programmatic leadership.
Preferred Qualifications:
To provide demonstrated evidence of leadership in:
- Research productivity as evidenced in publications, graduate student/post-doctoral mentoring, extramural grants, patents, and other professional or entrepreneurial accomplishments.
- Budget/fiscal management of program, department, college or other administrative unit(s).
- Personnel management, including recruitment, advancement, and retention of staff or faculty.
- Undergraduate and graduate teaching, curricular planning and development, and student success efforts.
- Advancing research, extension and outreach programming or other enterprises, collaborations, or partnerships.
- Working with external stakeholders to build and expand partnerships and coalitions with public and private organizations.
Position Details:
The initial Department Chair appointment is for five years with formal review during year four. The appointment is an at-will position reporting to the Dean of the college. The position will be a 9-month academic-year appointment with summer salary while serving as Chair. This position has expected percentages of 85% administration, and 15% in a combination of teaching, research, outreach and/or service. Proposed start date by July 1, 2025.
Application Instructions:
To apply for this position, please click Apply and complete the Employment Application. Please be prepared to enter or attach the following:
- Cover letter/statement that describes experience and forward-looking outlook related to the indicated purposes of the department and the responsibilities of the Chair.
- Full curriculum vitae.
- Contact information for five professional references (at least one from outside the applicant's current organization). References will not be contacted without permission from the applicant.
The guaranteed consideration date for the review of applications is November 25, 2024. For questions about the position, please contact the search committee chair, Dr. Amy Kaleita ( kaleita@iastate.edu; 515-294-5167).
Why Choose ISU?
Iowa State Faculty enjoy comprehensive health and work-life benefits, including medical and dental; as well as:
- Retirement benefits, including defined benefit and defined contribution plans.
- Generous leave plans.
- Onsite childcare (Ames, Iowa).
- Life insurance and long-term disability.
- Flexible Spending Accounts.
- Various voluntary benefits and discounts.
- Employee Assistance Program.
- Wellbeing program.
Original Posting Date: September 16, 2024
Job Requisition Number: R15522
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