Position Description

Department of Human Centered Design, Cornell University 
Tenure-Track, Assistant Professor

The Department of Human Centered Design (HCD) brings multi-disciplinary perspectives together to improve health and well-being through design. Through transdisciplinary thinking and expertise, we bring arts and design, material and social sciences, to innovate, investigate, and address real-world challenges by using analog and digital knowledge, tools, rigorous research methods, and creative processes. Our faculty includes scientists, artists, anthropologists, architects, engineers, psychologists, and experts in apparel, interiors, material sciences, and technology. We work together and collaborate externally with colleagues from across the university, as well as industry and non-profit community partners, to conduct research and enhance students’ learning. Using state-of-the-art lab and studio spaces, we conceptualize, prototype, and evaluate products and processes that enhance human potential, health equity, social justice, sustainability, and community flourishing (https://www.human.cornell.edu/hcd). HCD is a partner in the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures.

We are seeking an exceptional scholar to join our faculty in the area of Health Equity. We welcome scholars who approach their respective area of expertise from a multi-disciplinary range of perspectives to develop evidence-based critical solutions to improve lives and address current critical topics with specific attention to bridging the disparities regarding human health. This position may be supported in part by Cornell University’s FIRST program (Cornell FIRST), a grant from the NIH’s Common Fund’s Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Program, to recruit early-career faculty who have a demonstrated commitment to inclusive excellence. The successful candidate will join our current faculty in linking theoretical research in science, technology, architecture, engineering, mathematics, and design to applied research innovation and outreach. Research, teaching, and engagement/outreach interests may include, but are not limited to:

• Generating and translating novel solutions across a spectrum of products, practices, and policies to enhance the lived experience and improve daily life.

• Exploring and critiquing the role of design and/or materials in producing, expressing, and shaping human health and well-being of individuals and communities.

• Developing and refining new materials, technologies, and embodied environments to produce novel innovations where physical and digital components interact with humans across scales, from on-the-body to the inhabited world.

• Developing environmentally and socially responsible design and management practices that have a beneficial impact on individuals, communities, and the environment. 

The successful candidate will demonstrate potential to develop a world-class, externally funded research and design program that engages with current issues in one or more of the above areas. Candidates must provide evidence of excellence in teaching and advising at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Responsibilities include creating a successful research program; teaching undergraduate and graduate courses; advising undergraduate and graduate students; and providing service to the department and university community. A Ph.D. is required.