CHAIR & PROFESSOR, Electrical & Computer Engineering

University of Florida • Gainesville, FL

21h

About The Position

The University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering seeks a Department Chair for its 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 successful candidate will be an accomplished scholar and effective organizational leader with a strong record of externally funded research, able to strengthen the department’s recognition and ranking, develop a vision for international impact, and connect the department’s strengths to opportunities for Florida and the world. The Chair will join the Dean’s leadership team, advance the department and college, contribute to university priorities, and engage constructively with the state, nation, and profession.

The department has more than 1,600 students and 54 tenure-track faculty, $34 million in FY2025 research expenditures, and ten institutes or centers led or co-led by ECE faculty. Its programs span fields including AI 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 and measurable goals; support faculty and staff success; grow research and sponsored activity; improve educational programs and student outcomes; and strengthen external partnerships and fundraising. The position’s anticipated start date is August 16, 2027. Applications will be reviewed 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.
• 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.
• Strong record of externally funded research.
• High personal research reputation.

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 departmental direction and measurable goals for scholarship, research, education, talent, infrastructure, reputation, entrepreneurship, and impact.
• Balance foundational fields with emerging opportunities, 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.
• Grow high-impact research and sponsored activity, enable interdisciplinary teams, improve proposal and project support, connect faculty to institutes and centers, and advance technology transfer, standards, intellectual property, startups, and industry collaboration.
• Raise the department’s external research profile by connecting faculty 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, industry, 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree