Practice-Track Professor of Urban Technology

Position: Practice-Track Professor of Urban Technology (Open Rank)
Extended Site Maintenance We are performing updates and maintenance to improve the applicant experience. As a result, the site will be unavailable from Saturday, October 3, at 9:00 p.m. ET through Sunday, October 4, at 8:00 a.m. ET. During this outage period, applications for job postings cannot be submitted.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit one PDF (500kb size limit) containing the following:

Cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the position

Curriculum vitae

Name and contact information for three references

For full consideration, please submit your materials by October 16, 2026.

Job Summary The University of Michigan (UM) Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning seeks a practice-track faculty member at the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor to develop field-defining practice and teaching in the area of urban technology. We seek applicants whose teaching and practice will primarily contribute to our newly approved Master of Urban Technology program, with a planned launch in Fall 2027 at the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in Detroit.

The successful candidate will join a vibrant and collaborative community of faculty in the Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Program, home to our highly-ranked Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP), the Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning, and the Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology. URP faculty interests, research methods, and expertise are diverse, and we consider ourselves an innovative, welcoming, and inclusive community.

Our academic programs span the fields of urban planning, real estate, and urban technology.

Professors of practice will be expected to teach as contracted; participate in service to the program, college, and/or university (i.e. serving on committees or task forces, participating in admissions processes, participating in reviews of student work, and similar activities); and maintain an ongoing engagement with professional work in keeping with the expectations for this appointment. Although professional practice is diverse, it is almost always conducted for pay for a client, and is shared with a broader community of practice through practice outputs or broader dissemination which shares aspects of the practice work.

Excellence in professional practice is documented through recognized impact such as the implementation, adoption, or realization of creative ideas (whether plans, designs, technologies, policies, etc.), awards and recognition by professional peers and the broader public. Practice-track faculty at Taubman College typically have a 50% appointment, corresponding to one course in the Fall and Winter semesters.

This position is being made specifically to expand capacities to launch a Master's of Urban Technology (MUT), which will be offered at the University of Michigan Center for Innovation (UMCI) in Detroit. Consistent with the overall model for UMCI, all academic programs and faculty who teach at UMCI are housed and administered by U-M Ann Arbor units.

Practice:
We seek applicants whose practice advances the urban technology field, which encompasses data, AI, and digital technologies applied to the work of the built environment. We are particularly interested in practitioners with experience related to innovation in how urban spaces are planned, realized, operated, and governed, which may include emerging industry areas such as contech, proptech, and AECtech.

Teaching:
We seek applicants qualified to teach in-person courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. We expect this faculty member to teach two courses per year in Detroit for the MUT program, but some teaching in Ann Arbor in one of the existing degree offerings may be possible,…