Department Head - Materials Science and Engineering

Job Description The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech invites applications and nominations for the position of Department Head. The successful candidate will be appointed as a tenured professor and a named professorship distinction is available. The selected Department Head will provide visionary, collaborative, and accountable leadership for a department with a strong tradition of research, education, and industry engagement.

The Department Head serves as a member of the College of Engineering leadership team reporting to the Dean and is the department’s principal advocate to university leaders, alumni, industry, government sponsors, professional communities, and other external partners. The Department Head will lead the development and execution of a shared strategic vision with departmental faculty; foster excellence in research, education, mentoring, service, and outreach;

steward departmental fundraising for resources; and build a culture in which faculty, staff, and students can thrive.

The next Department Head will build on MSE’s distinctive strengths in hands-on education, materials innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Priority opportunities include advancing research, graduate education, and undergraduate education; growing undergraduate and graduate enrollment; strengthening industry, national laboratories, and alumni partnerships; broadening the department’s visibility and impact; supporting faculty and staff success; and positioning MSE for leadership in advanced manufacturing, energy, microelectronics, health, national security, and sustainable materials.

About the Department The Virginia Tech MSE department offers B.S., M.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees and is home to more than 20 faculty members whose expertise spans the development, manufacturing, characterization, testing, and application of advanced materials systems. Our research and educational programs encompass metals, ceramics and glasses, polymers, composites, electronic and optical materials, biomaterials, nuclear materials, nanomaterials, and computational materials science.

The department is in the midst of an exciting period of growth and transformation as we redefine what materials science and engineering education, research, and impact should look like for the next generation of materials scientists and engineers. Building on our broad technical foundation, we are shaping a department positioned to address emerging challenges in energy, computing, national security, advanced manufacturing, sustainability, and other rapidly evolving areas where materials innovation will be essential.

MSE’s students benefit from a close-knit learning environment, extensive laboratory experiences, undergraduate research, internships and cooperative education, and a distinctive Engineering Communications Program. Faculty and students engage in fundamental and applied collaborative research across the university, with industry, and with government partners.

The MSE department is based in Holden Hall and has specialized characterization, processing, and synthesis laboratories as well as computational facilities in Hancock Hall, Whittemore Hall, the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (CRC), and the Kroehling Advanced Materials Foundry. These facilities support research, teaching, and engagement across the materials lifecycle. MSE also maintains a strong connection with Virginia Tech MADE, the university’s center for advanced manufacturing, which brings together strengths in advanced materials, computational design, manufacturing technologies, data analytics, and cyber-infrastructure.

In addition, the department has strong connections with the VT…