About UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.

The Department of Chemical Engineering has 16 full-time, tenure track faculty members, 3 lecturers, and approximately 67 graduate students and 210 undergraduates. The Department’s FY 24 research expenditures exceeded $7.1 million. Additional information about the Department can be obtained at https://che.umass.edu.

Job Description

The Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the assistant professor level. Under exceptional circumstances, highly qualified candidates at other ranks may receive consideration. The Department seeks scholars with research interests in catalysis and reaction engineering, transport and continuum-scale modeling, or process and systems engineering. The ideal candidate complements the Department’s expertise and can envision collaborations that will strengthen existing research areas at UMass Amherst. The University values candidates who, by virtue of their lived experiences, their scholarship, and/or their mentoring, teaching, and outreach activities, contribute significantly to campus goals of building a more diverse and inclusive community while working to improve campus climate. The appointment is expected to begin September 1, 2025.

Requirements

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering or a closely related field, a strong record of research accomplishments, and a commitment to excellence in teaching and service. Applicants must also demonstrate potential for scholarly excellence and developing an externally funded research program, and the successful candidate will be expected to maintain an internationally recognized scholarly presence. Candidates will be expected to teach existing undergraduate and graduate courses in the Chemical Engineering curriculum and will be encouraged to create new courses in areas of their interest or across disciplines. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Additional Information

The steps of the process are as follows:

• A minimally qualified pool is identified from the applicants.
• Candidates in this pool are evaluated and a “long list” is identified, which will be interviewed via video conference. Candidates invited to these interviews will be emailed at least one week before the scheduled date. References will be contacted at this stage.
• A “shortlist” is developed from the long list, and these candidates will be invited to interview on campus. We anticipate interviews on campus in the first quarter of 2025.

Application Instructions

Candidates must provide the following in their application package addressed to “ChE Faculty Search Committee.” Applications should be submitted by November 8, 2024. Review will continue until the search is completed.  All files must be provided in .pdf format. Typical length for items 1, 4 & 5 is one to two pages; item 3 minimum length is three pages.  

• A cover letter, addressed to “ChE Faculty Search Committee”. The cover letter should a) introduce yourself, b) briefly describe your research interests, and c) describe your vision for this position. 
• A current curriculum vitae.
• A research statement. Candidates should briefly summarize their past research contributions and describe their research plans.
• A teaching statement. Candidates should describe their past teaching experience and ideas for core and elective chemical engineering courses that they may teach or develop.
• A statement of vision for the candidate’s role in advancing equity, justice, inclusion, and broadening participation in engineering. Please discuss prior experiences and planned future actions integrated across research, teaching, service, and outreach that will result in more equitable engineering solutions, help broaden participation in engineering, build an inclusive engineering community, and contribute to the mission of the College of Engineering and UMass. (https://www.umass.edu/strategicplan/strategic-plan).
• Contact information (name, title, email address, institution) for three professional references. References will not be contacted until the second phase of the search.

More about UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst is a leader in providing institutional supports for faculty to combine work and family/personal responsibilities, and was listed among the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Great Colleges to Work For,” UMass is in the top 10% of public research-intensive universities in the COACHE survey for making having and raising children compatible with the tenure-track. UMass Amherst maintains a nationally recognized NSF-sponsored ADVANCE Institutional Transformation program that seeks to increase equity in STEM fields through collaboration (https://www.umass.edu/advance/home).  For more information on work-life balance at UMass Amherst, see https://www.umass.edu/prospective-faculty/work/balance

The College of Engineering is recognized as one of the top 30 public engineering schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report and is the #1 public engineering program in New England. Our inclusive community includes ~2400 undergraduate, ~750 graduate students and ~150 instructional faculty across five engineering departments—biomedical, chemical, civil and environmental, electrical and computer, and mechanical and industrial. Our faculty members are developing life-saving medical devices and therapeutics, designing smart infrastructures, tackling climate change, and revolutionizing materials science, computing, and cybersecurity. They are recipients of prestigious national awards, including 18 CAREER Awards in the last five years. With over $60 million in research expenditures and 20+ affiliated research centers and programs, we're at the forefront of innovation and discovery. The college's new Sustainable Engineering Laboratories building, slated to open in Fall 2026, will offer immersive labs and learning spaces, enabling us to test and develop technologies that address real-world sustainability challenges. Learn more at https://www.umass.edu/engineering/ and https://engineering.umass.edu/sustainable-engineering-laboratories.

As a campus with an increasingly diverse student body, we are looking for candidates who can operate effectively in a diverse faculty and student community, and who value collegiality, collaboration, achievement, and integrity. We encourage applications from women, minorities, and individuals with a commitment to mentor under-represented demographics within engineering. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths, those who have paused their careers for family or pandemic reasons, or who spent time outside of academia. We are committed to helping all constituents reach their full potential, creating best-in-practice operations to support faculty scholarship and fostering excellence in student experiences inside and outside our department.

College of Engineering Mission, Vision, and Inclusivity statement: https://www.umass.edu/engineering/about/mission-vision-and-inclusivity-statement

UMass Amherst Inclusivity Mission Statement:

https://www.umass.edu/diversity/about

The University is committed to active recruitment of a diverse faculty and student body. The University of Massachusetts Amherst is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer of women, minorities, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities and encourages applications from these and other protected group members. Because broad diversity is essential to an inclusive climate and critical to the University’s goals of achieving excellence in all areas, we will holistically assess the many qualifications of each applicant and favorably consider an individual’s record working with students and colleagues with broadly diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds in educational, research or other work activities. We will also favorably consider experience overcoming or helping others overcome barriers to an academic career and degree.