Nutrition and Health Equity

Division of Nutritional Sciences 

Cornell University

The Division of Nutritional Sciences (DNS) at Cornell University invites applications for a 9-month, full-salaried, tenure-track position at the rank of associate or full professor. We seek experienced candidates with demonstrated research excellence in nutrition and health inequalities in the U.S. and/or globally. 

This position is the third in a cluster hire in the Division in Nutrition, Health Equity and Social Justice. The Division recognizes the key role of social and structural determinants in shaping the health and nutritional well-being of individuals, families, and communities. This position is under the umbrella of the College of Human Ecology Pathways to Social Justice: Faculty Cohort Hire, which supports a comprehensive and collaborative college-wide initiative to bring together a cohort of scholars who are committed to studying race, ethnicity, and the nature, persistence, and consequences of inequality.

Candidates are expected to be leaders in their disciplines and have demonstrated research excellence in nutrition and health equity. Commensurate with rank, research excellence should be demonstrated by an active, externally funded research program as well as by a substantial record of publication in recognized peer-reviewed journals. Candidates may have disciplinary expertise in epidemiology, public health nutrition, community nutrition, food systems, food security, or a related field. The qualifications of the candidate will determine the rank of the tenured/tenure-track appointment. The successful candidate will be expected to teach at both the undergraduate and graduate level. 

The Division of Nutritional Sciences
The Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University is among the largest academic units in the United States devoted to human nutrition and is distinguished by its multi‐disciplinary faculty. The mission of DNS is to  advance  discovery in basic disciplines and to promote the health and well‐being of populations in the U.S. and globally. The scholarly activities in DNS include research, education and translation, and extension and outreach. These activities integrate knowledge across the physical, biological, and social sciences to address important questions related to nutrition and health, food systems, and social and institutional environments and governmental policies related to nutrition and human health. The multidisciplinary environment supports faculty who work across the Division’s 4 programmatic foci of  Precision Nutrition, Lifecycle Nutrition, Food and Nutrition Systems, and Social and Behavioral Nutrition. The DNS undergraduate program consists of four majors (~750 students in total) and a University-wide minor in Global Health. The Nutritional Sciences and Global and Public Health Sciences majors are offered in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and in the College of Human Ecology (CHE), the Human Biology, Health and Society major is offered in CHE, and the concentration in Nutrition in the Biological Sciences Major is offered in CALS and the College of Arts and Sciences. The Division is home to the Food and Nutrition Education in Communities program, which leads the New York State Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (NYS EFNEP) delivered through the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) system.  DNS is the administrative home for the Cornell Graduate Field of Nutrition and the Graduate Field of Epidemiology and currently has two NIH-sponsored training grants to support pre- and post-doctoral trainees. DNS is also the only nutrition-focused World Health Organization Collaborating Center in the US and is an Affiliate Center in the Cochrane US Network.

Academic Environment at Cornell University
Cornell is a major Land Grant research and teaching institution established in 1865 with both endowed and state‐assisted units. The student population on the Ithaca campus is approximately 5,350 graduate/professional students and more than 14,000 undergraduates. Cornell offers a strong, interdisciplinary research environment, and has ongoing campus‐wide investments in Radical Collaborations that seek to leverage our uniquely collaborative environment to advance the areas of social sciences, sustainability, data science, digital agriculture, genome biology, humanities and arts, infection biology, nanoscale science and molecular engineering. Other Cornell programs and initiatives include Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Cornell Center for Health Equity, the Cornell Center for the Study of Inequality, the Global Cornell Initiative, the Engaged Cornell Initiative, and the Academic Integration Initiative, which seeks to strengthen linkages among Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell Tech and Cornell’s main campus in Ithaca, NY.

Qualifications:
The candidate is expected to have:

• A PhD, ScD, DrPH, MD/PhD or equivalent degree in public health nutrition, epidemiology, community nutrition, a social science discipline, or a related field
• Demonstrated research excellence in nutrition and health equity
• Commensurate with rank, demonstrated research excellence supported by a record of publication (in recognized peer-reviewed journals and/or books) in the field and a strong history of externally supported research
• An interest in building academic linkages within DNS program areas, and with other departments and centers throughout the University 
• Interest in teaching at the undergraduate and/or graduate level

Responsibilities:

The candidate is expected to:

• Maintain a vigorous, externally funded research program
• Maintain a high level of scholarly activity
• Mentor graduate students
• Forge professional relationships within the Division of Nutritional Sciences and other academic units on campus
• Participate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences’ graduate and/or undergraduate teaching  programs

Academic Rank and Compensation:

This position is a 9-month appointment, with the expectation of tenure. This open rank position will be  filled at the level of Associate or Full Professor and is designated as 50% effort in research, 50% in teaching/instruction. The salary level will depend on experience and expertise and will be competitive with comparable positions at peer universities.

Applicants must apply through Academic Jobs Online at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/19708 ;and upload a cover letter, CV, research statement, a teaching statement, and a statement of diversity. Applicants must also arrange for three confidential letters of recommendation to be submitted through Academic Jobs Online. For related positions in other departments in CHE, which are included in the Pathways to Social Justice: Faculty Cohort Hire, see this central description.

Review of applications will begin in late October 2021 and will continue until this position has been filled.