Job description
Online applications must be received before 11:59pm on:
October 30, 2025
If a date is not listed above, review the Applicant Instructions below for more details.
Available Title(s):
407-NN_FACULTY – Chair
Business Title:
Chair – Department of Chemistry
Employee Type:
Faculty
Position Term:
9 Month – Summer
Position Details:
The Opportunity:
Washington State University (WSU) seeks a visionary leader for the position of Chair of the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. Applications are invited for a permanent full-time 9-month, tenure-eligible position at the rank of full professor as well as a termed, though renewable, administrative leadership appointment.
As the Chair, you will lead the statewide department from the Pullman campus. The Department of Chemistry at WSU is a vibrant, research-focused unit. It is internationally recognized in its core discipline with strengths in areas like Chemistry of Biological Systems, Materials and Interfacial Science, and Chemistry of Radiological Systems. Committed to graduate mentorship and with a large undergraduate instructional presence, the department plays a central role in advancing the university’s land-grant mission through innovative research, teaching, and statewide partnerships.
Together with the Department of Chemistry’s current faculty and staff, you are expected to serve within and across these research areas, sustaining core academic areas while also driving collaboration between the department’s different components. The successful candidate is expected to have an exceptional record of collaborative leadership in research, education, and service in one or more of the following areas: all areas of Chemistry that are in alignment with existing research strengths within the department including but not limited to, radiochemistry, materials chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, and chemical biology. Successful candidates will be expected to begin the four (4) year renewable appointment as Chair on August 1, 2026.
As Chair, the successful candidate will:
- Maintain a strong research agenda in their area of expertise.
- Collaboratively develop and put into action strategies that strengthen the Department of Chemistry’s teaching, research, and student support.
- Provide access and opportunity in alignment with WSU’s land-grant mission across our classrooms, collaborations, and academic work.
- Build a collaborative and cooperative culture and environment in the Department of Chemistry.
- Administer and oversee the delivery of the academic programs along with regularly updating the unit’s curricula, delivery methods, and teaching activities.
- Champion the Department of Chemistry to the university administration, other university units, and external stakeholders.
- Oversee recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students, and support their continued professional growth and development.
- Oversee the management of the department including responsibilities for budget, strategic planning, academic grown and daily operations.
- Serve as a member of the broader academic leadership team in the College of Arts and Sciences and work collaboratively to align the Department of Chemistry with college and university priorities.
A general outline of duties and responsibilities for school directors/department chairs can be found at: Duties and Responsibilities for School Directors/Department Chairs.
Additional Information:
Applications received by October 1, 2025 will receive first consideration. If an adequate number of qualified applications are received before October 31, 2025, the posting may close to new applications early.
Base Salary Full Professor: $125,000-200,000 | Commensurate with experience and qualifications
Administrative Stipend: $35,000-65,000 | Commensurate with experience and qualifications
In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the above salary reflects the full salary range for this position. Individual placement within the range is based on the candidate’s current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position.
Benefits: WSU offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes paid sick and vacation leave; paid holidays; medical, dental, life and disability insurance package for employees and dependents; retirement; deferred compensation and optional supplemental retirement accounts. For a more detailed summary of benefits offered by WSU for Faculty please review the summary of benefits for WSU Faculty and Total Compensation
Required Qualifications:
- Earned Ph.D. in Chemistry or related disciplines by appointment date.
- Must have a record of accomplishments in research, teaching commensurate with department, college, and university standards for tenure at the level of full professor.
- Evidence of administrative leadership experience (e.g., chair of an academic unit or other academic program, associate chair, director of undergraduate or graduate studies, or chairing a high-ranking university committee, or equivalent experience).
- Proven effective teaching and instruction.
- Demonstrated record of supporting access and opportunity in research, teaching, and service in alignment with WSU’s land grant mission.
About Department of Chemistry – For more information about the great work we are doing and to view our mission and values, please visit our website: Department of Chemistry
Area/College: College of Arts and Sciences
Department Name: Department of Chemistry
Location: Pullman, WA
Application Instructions: Applicants must upload the following required documents to their online application. Application materials should clearly communicate how the applicant meets all required qualifications and additional requirements.
- Cover letter addressing qualifications for this position as well as a response to the following prompt: As a land-grant university, we have a commitment to ensure access and opportunity in all aspects of our work. The successful candidate for this administrative leadership position will have the experience, knowledge, and skills to lead their department in its research/scholarship/creative practice, pedagogy, curriculum, and service in ways that reflect and enhance this commitment. Using the job announcement for this position, please list and explain up to three areas of responsibility you see as related to fulfilling this mission.
- Curriculum vitae
- Future Chair’s Statement: In a separate statement, please provide your assessment of the opportunities and challenges that a department at a public research university might face. You are welcome to review the current structure of WSU’s Department of Chemistry, but we do not expect from this distance a detailed assessment of the unit. Rather, we are most interested in your vision of scholarship, teaching, and engagement in such a unit, as well as how you understand your role in meeting the specific opportunities and challenges that might accompany that vision.
Inquiries should be directed to Katie Cooper, Associate Dean for Faculty for the College of Arts & Sciences, [email protected].
External candidates, upload all documents in the “Application Document” section of your application. Current WSU Employees (internal candidates), before starting your Workday application, please use these instructions to update your education and experience in your worker profile in Workday. Internal candidates, upload all documents in the “Resume/Cover Letter” section of your application.
Documents may be submitted as one file or separate files. Applicants are encouraged to upload as a PDF, if possible.
Professional reference contact information (e.g. names, addresses, and contact information of at least four references who can address your history of and potential for excellence in administrative leadership, research, teaching, and service) will be requested later in the recruitment process through Workday.
Background Check: This position has been designated by the department to require a background check because it requires access to children or vulnerable adults as defined by RCW 74.34, engages in law enforcement, requires security clearance, interacts with WSU students in a counseling or advising capacity, has access to personal identifying and/or financial information, unsupervised access to university buildings/property, or other business-related need. A background check will not be completed until an initial determination of qualification for employment has been made.
Time Type:
Full time
Washington State University encourages all qualified candidates to apply, including members of the military and veterans, and persons with disabilities.
WSU employs only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized non-U.S. citizens. All new employees must show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
WSU is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact Human Resource Services: 509-335-4521 (v), Washington State TDD Relay Service: Voice Callers: 1-800-833-6384; TDD Callers: 1-800-833-6388, 509-335-1259(f), or [email protected].
Notice of Non-Discrimination
In matters of admission, employment, housing or services, or in the educational programs or activities it operates, WSU does not discriminate or permit discrimination by any member of its community against any individual on the basis of sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin, physical disability, mental disability, sensory disability, use of a trained service animal, age, religion, creed, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, honorably discharged veteran, member of the military, or immigration or citizenship status except as authorized by federal or state law, regulation, or government contract.
Inquiries about the application of federal and state laws and regulations (including inquiries regarding the application of Title IX, ADA/Section 504, and implementing regulations), as well as reports and complaints of discrimination and harassment, can be made verbally or in writing to WSU’s Compliance and Civil Rights, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, or both.
More information, resources, and contact information are available here: https://ccr.wsu.edu/notice-of-nondiscrimination/
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