CHAIR & PROFESSOR, Electrical & Computer Engineering

University of Florida•Gainesville, FL

About The Position

The University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering invites applications and nominations for Chair of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department. Reporting to the Dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, the Chair will provide strategic, intellectual, and administrative leadership for an internationally visible research and education enterprise. The selected candidate will join the Dean’s leadership team, advance the department and college, contribute to university priorities, and engage with the state, nation, and profession. The role calls for an accomplished scholar and organizational leader with a strong record of externally funded research who can strengthen the department’s recognition and ranking, articulate a vision for international impact, and connect departmental strengths to consequential opportunities in Florida and globally. The department has more than 1,600 students and 54 tenure-track faculty members, research expenditures of $34 million in FY2025, ten institutes or centers led or co-led by ECE faculty, 28 IEEE, AAAS, and ACM Fellows, and 28 endowed faculty positions. Its graduate program is ranked No. 20 among public universities in the 2026 U.S. News rankings. Its research and education portfolio includes artificial intelligence and machine learning, communications, computing, cybersecurity, robotics, hardware security, microelectronics, semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging, metrology, power electronics, and connected systems. The Chair will co-create departmental direction with measurable goals for scholarship, research, education, talent, infrastructure, reputation, entrepreneurship, and impact. The role includes developing faculty and staff, expanding research and innovation, improving educational programs and student outcomes, and strengthening external partnerships and advancement. The anticipated start date is August 16, 2027. Applications will be reviewed as received until the position is filled, with priority consideration for applications received by December 1, 2026.

Requirements

Earned doctorate in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a closely related field.
Distinguished record of scholarly research, education, mentoring, and professional contribution meriting appointment as a tenured full professor at the University of Florida.
Evidence of successful leadership in a research-intensive university or comparably complex organization, including building collaborative, high-performing organizational cultures and developing faculty, staff, and emerging leaders.
Ability to develop and articulate a compelling strategic vision to advance the department’s reputation and ranking, translating it into clear priorities, strategic investments, and measurable outcomes.
Skill in developing and expanding sponsored research programs, fostering collaborative research, and advancing high-impact programs.
Excellent communication, judgment, integrity, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, students, administrators, and external stakeholders.
Demonstrated commitment to student success and to a scholarly and working environment where people with varied backgrounds and perspectives can contribute and thrive.

Nice To Haves

Experience recruiting, mentoring, evaluating, and retaining faculty and staff across career stages and appointment types.
Experience developing multidisciplinary initiatives, major collaborative proposals, centers, institutes, or other large-scale research activities.
Experience building productive industry partnerships, including sponsored research, consortia, or public-private collaborations.
Experience using industry engagement to strengthen education, experiential learning, workforce preparation, and research opportunities.
Ability to identify emerging funding opportunities and organize faculty and external partners around them.
Experience working with College and University leadership and across academic units.
Experience in advancement, philanthropy, alumni engagement, or development of external resources.
Professional leadership and service in electrical or computer engineering, or a related discipline.

Responsibilities

Co-create a departmental direction with measurable goals for scholarship, research, education, talent, infrastructure, reputation, entrepreneurship, and impact.
Balance foundational fields with emerging opportunities in areas including AI, semiconductors, cybersecurity, communications, computing, sensing, autonomy, quantum engineering, and connected systems.
Recruit, mentor, retain, evaluate, and recognize excellent faculty and staff; build leadership capacity and support early- and mid-career development.
Sustain a culture of openness, rigor, intellectual curiosity, and constructive accountability.
Grow high-impact research and sponsored activity, enable large interdisciplinary teams, improve proposal and project support, and connect faculty to institutes and centers.
Advance technology transfer, standards, intellectual property, startups, and industry collaboration, and raise the department’s external research profile through connections to major funding agencies.
Lead continuous improvement of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, including accreditation, curriculum, laboratory and design experiences, advising, doctoral mentoring, enrollment strategy, student well-being, completion, and career outcomes.
Strengthen relationships with alumni, donors, companies, national-security partners, government agencies, professional societies, and Florida’s technology ecosystem.
Enhance the department’s fundraising capabilities.
Advance the department and college, contribute to university priorities, and engage constructively with the state, nation, and profession.