Professor and Chair - Department of Economics

Iowa State University•Ames, IA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Economics at Iowa State University seeks a Professor and Chair to lead a jointly administered department within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). The department integrates agricultural economics and general economics and supports undergraduate programs in Agricultural Business, Economics, and Business Economics, as well as graduate programs in Economics and Agricultural Economics. It is recognized for excellence in teaching, research, extension, outreach, and service. The Chair is the department’s chief academic and administrative officer and provides strategic leadership across its missions. The role includes advancing departmental priorities; promoting excellence across mission areas; facilitating strategic hiring; supporting faculty, staff, and student success; stewarding financial and human resources; and enhancing the department’s visibility and impact. The Chair reports jointly to the Dean of CALS and the Dean of LAS and serves collaboratively on both college leadership teams. The Chair works with faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry partners, community stakeholders, university administrators, and other partners. The initial Chair appointment is for five years, subject to review under university policy. It is an at-will administrative appointment, expected to be a nine-month faculty appointment with summer salary provided while serving as Chair. The anticipated workload is approximately 80–85% administration and leadership and 15–20% scholarly, teaching, research, extension, outreach, and/or service activities. Responsibilities may be adjusted according to departmental and institutional needs. The department has approximately 33 faculty members and 7 staff members and serves approximately 450 undergraduate and 55 graduate students. Its faculty conduct nationally and internationally recognized research across economics, agricultural economics, and environmental and resource economics. Iowa State University is committed to continued investment in the department, including strategic investments in faculty and academic programs.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Economics, Agricultural Economics, or a closely related discipline.
Established record of scholarship, teaching, and service sufficient to qualify for appointment with tenure at the rank of Professor at Iowa State University.
Legally authorized to work in the United States on an ongoing basis without sponsorship; immigration sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated leadership experience in an academic, research, administrative, or organizational setting.
Experience in strategic planning and organizational leadership.
Experience with budget and fiscal management.
Experience recruiting, developing, evaluating, and retaining faculty and staff.
Experience developing undergraduate and graduate programs and student success initiatives.
Research leadership experience, including extramural funding and graduate student mentoring.
Experience in extension, outreach, policy engagement, or public scholarship.
Ability to build interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships.
Effectiveness in collaboration, communication, and relationship building.
Experience working with industry, government, nonprofit organizations, alumni, and other stakeholders.
Experience leading organizations with multiple constituencies and complex administrative relationships.
Ability to work within shared governance and consultative academic decision-making.

Responsibilities

Provide collaborative, strategic, and innovative leadership to advance the department’s mission and strategic priorities.
Lead departmental planning and continuous improvement to position the department for long-term success.
Foster excellence, innovation, accountability, and collegiality across the department’s mission areas.
Serve as an active, collaborative member of both CALS and LAS leadership teams.
Recruit, retain, mentor, develop, and evaluate faculty and staff.
Support faculty success in teaching, research, extension, outreach, and service.
Lead promotion and tenure, post-tenure review, faculty advancement, annual evaluations, and professional development initiatives.
Advance the department’s research enterprise and scholarly reputation; support faculty and graduate students in securing extramural funding and developing impactful research programs.
Steward Agriculture Experiment Station activities and ensure compliance with associated reporting requirements.
Promote excellence in extension and outreach and strengthen stakeholder engagement in Iowa and beyond.
Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration within the department, across colleges, and with external partners.
Promote excellence and innovation in undergraduate and graduate education and support development and continuous improvement of academic programs.
Champion student recruitment, retention, mentoring, and success, and foster effective teaching, student learning, and graduate education.
Steward departmental financial, personnel, and physical resources; provide sound fiscal leadership; and maintain compliance with university and college policies and procedures.
Allocate resources strategically and ensure efficient and effective departmental operations.
Maintain and support effective departmental governance processes and communicate with faculty, staff, students, college leadership, and other stakeholders.
Represent and advocate for the department within the university and to external constituencies.
Build relationships with alumni, industry leaders, professional organizations, public agencies, and other partners.
Promote the department’s strengths, accomplishments, and impact locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally.