Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track

Department of Human Centered Design

Cornell University

The Department of Human Centered Design brings multidisciplinary perspectives together to improve human wellbeing 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 anthropologists, engineers, psychologists, material scientists, geographers, public health and experts in apparel, graphic, interior, industrial design and architecture.  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 design across the range of clothing, products, buildings, and neighborhoods spaces to enhance human potential, health equity, social and environmental justice, sustainability, and community flourishing (https://www.human.cornell.edu/hcd).

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 equity and social/environmental justice in human health and wellbeing.

Equity and social/environmental justice are a critical area of expertise and strength throughout the College of Human Ecology. The College has a substantial cohort of scholars who are committed to studying race, ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic status including the nature, persistence, and consequences of inequality. Potential topics include: mental or physical health inequalities and the built environment; design for underrepresented populations; design for vulnerable populations; design in support of more just and equitable places and organizations; and design for diverse persons and communities. The applicant should provide evidence of excellence and innovation in design research and teaching with a human-centered orientation.

Research, teaching, and engagement/outreach interests may include, but are not limited to:
·         Generating and translating novel solutions across a spectrum of products, technology, spaces, and settings to enhance human health and wellbeing.
·         Exploring and critiquing the role of design in producing, expressing, and shaping human health and well-being of individuals and communities.
·         Developing environmentally and socially responsible designs and products to benefit 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 around design and health equity.  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.

HCD has strong connections to several other units on campus. These relationships support the department’s aim to address real-world challenges and opportunities through critical, creative, and collaborative engagement with design. We seek a colleague who is committed to social and environmental justice and will advance scholarly and real-world understandings of how design shapes environments, humans, and the interaction between the two.

This position is 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. https://nihfirst.cornell.edu/

Cornell has an ongoing commitment to its founding principle of educating “any person…in any study,” and the university offers a collegial and supportive campus atmosphere and high quality of life. Beyond campus, Ithaca is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region which boasts a vibrant cultural life amidst breathtaking natural beauty. A wide range of outdoor activities is close at hand in all seasons. Cornell also seeks to meet the needs of dual-career couples, with both its own Dual Career program and membership in the Upstate New York Higher Education Recruitment Consortium to assist in dual career searches.

To Apply: Please submit your application, via https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25317

*Experience Statement (optional)

We ask applicants to share their experiences and/or approaches (past, current, or future) to fostering learning, research service, and/or outreach in a diverse community. Applicants may choose to submit a stand-alone statement or embed the information in other parts of their application materials. In the case where any of these materials are posted on the Internet, please submit a Word document describing each electronic posting and include a link (a URL) to it. The starting date for the new hire may be as early as July 1, 2024, but applications will be accepted and reviewed until the position is filled.

For further information, please contact Sienna Torbitt @ slt86@cornell.edu.