Thomas and Colleen Wilmot Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Position Details

Title: Thomas and Colleen Wilmot Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Location: Syracuse, NY

Syracuse University seeks an innovative thinker, inspiring teacher, and thoughtful mentor to fill the endowed Thomas and Colleen Wilmot Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). The holder of this endowed chair will seek to build local, regional, national, and international collaborations to address grand challenges in their field of study. These collaborations may support traditional research activities, technological innovations, the development of entrepreneurial opportunities, and/or the shaping of public policy and administration.

We are especially interested in candidates who can leverage existing strengths in the CEE department and the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems.

The College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) has developed a strategic plan, under the leadership of Dean J. Cole Smith, with a bold vision to develop distinctive research excellence in emerging computing technologies, advanced manufacturing, resilient systems and infrastructure for natural and built environments, materials engineering for emergent applications, and engineering for the well‑being of humans and humanity. The plan also aims to achieve educational excellence and student success through real‑world experiential education, innovative curricula and responsive programs, and multi‑faced student support and global educational experience.

Implementing the strategic plan will position ECS as a premier college in engineering and computer science, characterized by signature research and educational programs embedded with the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, that yield distinctive local and global impact.

The CEE department is one of four departments within ECS. The department comprises 15 tenured and tenure‑track faculty, 2 full‑time teaching faculty, 2 professors of practice, and 2 staff members serving over 250 undergraduates and approximately 65 graduate students. CEE has two ABET accredited undergraduate programs (Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering), three Master’s programs (Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Environmental Engineering Science), and a Ph.D. program in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

CEE faculty maintain interdisciplinary research and teaching activities and collaborate within the University and externally with partners in industry, academia, government, and NGOs. The department is seeking to expand its interdisciplinary activities with a faculty member who can integrate and apply analytical technologies and specialty areas to multi‑scale civil and environmental systems and whose research complements existing research activities.

The successful candidate will have an earned doctorate (Ph.D. preferred) in engineering or a closely related field and a record of excellence in academic research that merits appointment at the level of (full) Professor.

• Experience securing external funding from highly competitive grant competitions and a demonstrated ability to lead and to work effectively on multi‑disciplinary teams are also essential.
• A distinguished record, relative to career stage, of scholarly achievement and/or technological innovation in one or more areas that complement strengths in the CEE department.
• A demonstrated history of innovation in research and/or development.
• A compelling vision for building an internationally recognized program at Syracuse University.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading multi‑disciplinary teams, including academic‑industry‑government collaborations.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, diversity and accessibility.

• Build an internationally recognized, externally funded, research program in an area that leverages and/or complements existing strengths in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
• Organize multi‑disciplinary,…