Applications and nominations are invited for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). The ISE Department offers BS, MS, Deng, and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering and MS in Engineering Management. The Department currently has a total of 13 tenured or tenure-track faculty members and an enrollment of approximately 484 students, including 231 BS, 154 MS, and 99 Doctoral (72 PhD and 27 DEng) students. The Department will increase its faculty size to 21 by 2026, including 16 tenured or tenure-track faculty members and five full-time teaching or research faculty members, through the College investment and campus-wide cluster hires in AI, Future Mobility, and Climate-smart Agriculture. As the state?s flagship research institution with an enrollment of more than 33,000 students, the UTK campus is in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Knoxville was ranked by US News and World Reports as #41 out of the 150 most populous metro areas as the best places to live. The area offers unique opportunities for research partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 Security Complex, and the National Institute for Computational Sciences. ISE actively interacts with on-campus centers including the Reliability and Maintainability Center, the Center for Transportation Research, the state?s Institute for Public Service, the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment, and so on. Departmental strengths include optimization, data analytics, machine learning, quantum computing, reliability and maintainability, and operational excellence and their applications in manufacturing, logistics and transportation, energy systems, sustainability, and healthcare systems. The annual externally funded research expenditure is more than $5M. For additional information about the Department, please visit https://ise.utk.edu/.

The Tickle College of Engineering is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success including adding over 30 new faculty as part of ambitious cluster hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, diversity, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. New facilities include the state-of-the art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building now under construction that will house UTK?s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF). TCE currently has 185 Tenure/Tenure Track and 67 Non-Tenure Track faculty in its seven academic departments and offers 12 undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD degree programs. Affiliated with TCE and located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the UT Space Institute is a hub of aerospace and defense research. The college is also home to eight research centers and three interdisciplinary institutes. With approximately 3,800 undergraduate and 1,150 graduate students, the college sits 29th among public universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings. Faculty in the college have won 21 early career awards (NSF, DoE, DARPA, AFOSR, and ARO) since 2016. In FY22, the college had NSF HERD research expenditures of $109 million.

Available effective August 1, 2025, the position will include a competitive compensation and startup package.  The Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to contribute in meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the University. 

The successful candidate will be expected to establish and maintain a scholarly and externally funded research program; supervise graduate students; develop and teach courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; and provide service to the Department.

An earned doctorate in Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Operations Research, or a closely related field is required and the PhD should be in hand by time of appointment. The successful applicants will have strong problem-solving and communication skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment. A strong commitment to teaching excellence and publications in leading journals are expected. Preferred qualifications are teaching experience, industrial experience, and demonstrated ability to attract external funding.

Individuals interested in applying should apply through Interfolio. Applicants must attach to their application a letter of interest addressing qualifications, research interests and teaching interests; a curriculum vitae; and a document containing the names and contact information for at least three professional references. Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2024 and continue until the position is filled. Inquiries should be directed to Dr. Andrew Yu, the search committee chair, at ajyu@utk.edu. 

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admission without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, and parental status, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law. In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the university. Requests for accommodations of a disability should be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Accessibility, 1840 Melrose Avenue Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3560 or eoa@utk.edu or (865)974-2498. Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color and national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), the ADA (disability), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexual orientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Investigation & Resolution 216 Business Incubator Building 2450 EJ. Chapman Drive Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 or (865)974-0717 or investigations@utk.edu.

About University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Our primary mission is to move forward the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate the citizens of the state of Tennessee, the nation, and the world. As the preeminent research-based, land-grant university in the state, UT embodies the spirit of excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity, outreach, and engagement attained by the nation’s finest public research institutions.

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