Rosen Family Professor Practice

The Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University seeks to hire the inaugural Rosen Family Professor of the Practice. The successful candidate will be an experienced scholar-practitioner, at the rank of Full Professor of the Practice, with a demonstrated commitment to leadership and policy engagement. This could include candidates whose primary professional experience is in academia or as a practitioner in another sector (e.g., government at any level, industry, non-profit).

We expect successful candidates will have interest in and experience with real‑world policy engagement, student engagement, and research broadly defined, with demonstrated excellence and leadership in at least one of these categories.

Successful candidates will teach in Sanford’s core curriculum, with a strong preference for those who can teach political and policy analysis courses in the school’s undergraduate and master’s degree programs. Candidates will also teach elective courses of their choice and design in their area of expertise.

The candidate will serve as the Director of Sanford’s Polis:
Center for Politics for at least the initial term of their appointment. The candidate will have wide latitude in shaping Polis’s activities through their strategic leadership in program development and implementation and in cultivating, along with the Dean’s office, external partnerships and fundraising. They will be expected to carry out student‑facing programming including Polis’s leadership role in The Civil Discourse Project, with opportunities to engage with the University’s parallel efforts through the Provost’s Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry and Belonging.

The ideal candidate will have a terminal degree (e.g., PhD, JD) along with demonstrated experience in leading programs, initiatives, and/or teams in their respective field.

The preferred start date for the position is no later than September 1, 2026.

Candidate’s application materials should include: a letter of application describing their policy engagement, leadership, research, and teaching experience along with their interest in joining the Sanford faculty; a CV; and the names and contact information for three references (we will not contact references until the semi‑finalist stage).

Candidate’s application materials should be submitted via: /31604

Applications submitted by February 25th will be guaranteed full consideration. Questions or requests for additional information can be directed toward Mallory SoRelle, search committee chair, elle.

The Sanford School includes nearly 70 interdisciplinary full‑time faculty and offers an undergraduate major, five Masters programs, and a Ph.D. program. The Sanford School houses several research centers and offers degree‑related programs and opportunities in Washington, DC, China, Scotland, London, and Geneva. More information can be found at https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

Duke is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, (including pregnancy and pregnancy‑related conditions), sexual orientation, or military status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard.

All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Please note that Duke specifically seeks information about past misconduct or policy violations (in the past ten (10) years) and/or relevant pending investigations as part of the application process. Disclosures will not be an automatic bar to hiring but, instead, will initiate further dialogue regarding past actions and steps taken to address them. Disclosures will not be shared with search committees during the application review process.