The College of Engineering at Texas A&M University invites applications for full-time tenured professor and department head of the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering with an 11-month academic appointment beginning fall of 2021. The college is seeking a communicative, collaborative and visionary leader who can promote the continued advancement of the department.
As the leader of the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, the department head will:
Demonstrate leadership while nurturing a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and excellence;
Promote continued growth of the department in research and educational excellence;
Oversee hiring, mentorship, and development of faculty and staff in the department;
Understand industry needs and expectations for graduates;
Provide effective fiscal management and promote an environment of transparency and integrity;
Build commitment and support for the department from a wide variety of stakeholders such as former students, industry and government labs; and
Organize successful fund-raising initiatives to increase departmental resources for research, education and facilities.
Department Information
The J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University has a strong local, national, and international reputation as a premier undergraduate and graduate education and research program. The department has 64 tenured or tenure track faculty (including six National Academy of Engineering members) and 18 research and teaching professionals that support teaching, research and service missions. The department has 1,490 undergraduates (sophomore-senior), 223 masters, and 260 Ph.D. students enrolled as of Fall 2020. According to US News and World Report, the graduate program is ranked 8th and undergraduate program is ranked 8th among US public institutions. The department is ranked 9th in the world by ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. In 2018, the department received a $20 million endowment and was named the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering. The current endowment stands at $86.4 million, of which $20 million goes towards undergraduate scholarships and $9.2 million towards graduate fellowships, and an additional $13.5 million in planned giving. The endowments also support ten chairs, twelve professorships, five career development professorships, and ten faculty fellowships. The annual research expenditure is nearly $29 million.
The department hosts strong programs that cover a broad spectrum of traditional, emerging and interdisciplinary areas of interest, including, but not limited to, fluid and thermal sciences, dynamics and control, mechanics and design, biomedical engineering; complex fluids; computational mechanics; solid and structural mechanics; microfluidics; modeling and simulation; nanotechnology; process systems engineering; continuum thermodynamics; energy applications and turbomachinery. The total laboratory space is nearly 125,000 square feet. Applicants are invited to consult the department’s website to review our academic and research programs as well as research labs and centers (https://engineering.tamu.edu/mechanical/index.html).
Candidates must have a doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field. Evidence of credentials that merit appointment at the rank of full professor with tenure, including a distinguished research and academic record commensurate with the title of tenured full professor, must be displayed.
Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, teaching statement, research statement, diversity statement and a list of four references (including postal addresses, phone numbers and email addresses) by applying for this specific position at http://apply.interfolio.com/79351. Applicants should also submit a three-page statement summarizing his/her personal vision and goals for the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s education and research, as well as his/her philosophy of academic leadership for achieving those goals. Full consideration will be given to applications received by January 15, 2021. Applications received after that date may be considered until the position is filled. It is anticipated the appointment will begin fall 2021.
