The Precision Health & Environment (PHE) cluster at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville seeks exceptional candidates to fill one 9-month tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level, primarily in the School of Information Sciences, starting August 1, 2025.

The PHE cluster is part of the "It Takes a Volunteer" cluster hiring initiative at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. https://provost.utk.edu/it-takes-a-volunteer-2023-2025-cluster-hiring-initiative/. The PHE will be a cluster team of excellence in systems modeling, artificial intelligence, health informatics, health information, and communication specialists, health care, epidemiology, environmental engineering, natural language processing, and machine learning. As part of this institutional priority initiative, new hires will join a dynamic core group of scientific collaborators with complementary experience and a shared interest in building a national reputation for excellence and innovation in PHE. In addition, clusters are expected to work together to grow the University?s reputation in PHE through shared grant proposals, publications, and innovative new curricular programming.

The University of Tennessee Knoxville works in collaboration with the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine (UTGSM), the UT Medical Center (UTMC), and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Using a One Health approach, the PHE will work with clinical experts and data from UTMC?s electronic health records and digitized biobank data to answer critical questions about the link between exposure to environmental conditions and human health at multiple levels including vector-borne diseases, infectious diseases, cardiac conditions, respiratory conditions, mental health conditions, and cancers, among others. This builds on UT?s strengths in domain-specific data collection, analysis and modeling, and decision-making, this cluster will integrate campus expertise in community engagement and enhance UT?s capacity to study the connections between environment and human health and wellness through advanced data analytics and precision health.

The new hires also will support and contribute to the AI TENNessee (Transdisciplinary AI Education and iNNovation) Initiative. The AI TENNessee Initiative is a new research and education initiative focused on the State of Tennessee?s unique AI strengths and opportunities. Led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this initiative is engaging with academic, industry, and community partners across Tennessee to leverage the benefits of AI across all disciplines and economic sectors in areas such as AI for science, precision health and environment, smart manufacturing, climate-smart agriculture and forestry, and future mobility. Our goal is to improve lives through AI research and education. The mission of the AI TENNessee initiative is to: 1) advance cutting-edge fundamental and transdisciplinary AI research and creative activity across all disciplines to address important challenges; 2) expand the number of students developing skills and core competencies in AI across many disciplines to prepare them for AI-enabled jobs of today and the future; and 3) partner with industry and institutions statewide to position Tennessee as a national and global leader in the data-intensive knowledge economy.

The University of Tennessee Knoxville is the flagship university in the Tennessee state higher education system. Knoxville is a vibrant and diverse medium-sized city located within easy driving distance of Asheville, Nashville, Atlanta, and the Great Smoky Mountains. It has a beautiful and walkable downtown, varied nightlife, eclectic shopping and restaurants, and a relatively low cost of living.

The School and College

The School of Information Sciences is part of the College?of Communication and Information (CCI),?along with three other?schools: the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations, the School of Communication Studies, and the School of Journalism and Media. The School of Information Sciences is an iCaucus member of the iSchools Consortium.

The School of Information Sciences enrolls approximately 300 students in its Master of Science in Information Sciences (MSIS) distance education and on-campus programs, ranked 10th in the most recent U.S. News and World Report on American Library Association-accredited LIS graduate programs. SIS also offers the state?s first Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences degree, an undergraduate online degree completion program in applied data analytics and user experience, and undergraduate minors in information sciences, user experience design, and social media analytics. SIS is also an active participant in the CCI Ph.D. program.  The College?s Research Innovation Center (RIC) provides a wide array of support services for CCI faculty to pursue sponsored research.

The School of Information Sciences and the College of Communication and Information have a deep institutional commitment to diversity and strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply. We favor candidates who can contribute to our distinctive educational objectives, which promote interdisciplinary perspectives, intercultural understanding, and concern with social responsibility and the ethical implications of technology, information, and systems.  The School?s Diversity and Inclusion Statement and the College?s diversity action plan can be viewed at https://sis.utk.edu/diversity-inclusion and https://cci.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CCI-DiversityActionPlan-Final-1-1-21.pdf.   

For more information about the School of Information Sciences and the College of Communication and Information, visit https://sis.utk.edu/ and https://cci.utk.edu/.

Required Qualifications:

To be eligible for appointment as an assistant professor, the selected candidate must have a record that demonstrates the potential for teaching, research, and service commensurate with a tenure-track faculty appointment at the rank.

• Ph.D. in information sciences, computer science, or related area (applicants in the process of completing their Ph.D. may apply, but the degree must be awarded on/by position start date)
• Evidence of ability to develop a record of research productivity and teaching effectiveness in health information related to human-computer interaction (HCI), user experience design (UXD), and data science that align with the PHE cluster
• Evidence of ability to instruct students at the graduate and/or undergraduate level 
• Experience or demonstrated ability in the design and delivery of courses in a variety of formats, including face-to-face, synchronous online, asynchronous online, and hybrid
• Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, students, and staff from various disciplines, cultures, and academic backgrounds is essential

Additional Desired Qualifications:

• A record of published scholarship as lead or sole author
• Experience or demonstrated ability in the design and delivery of courses in face-to-face, synchronous online, asynchronous online, and/or hybrid formats
• Experience teaching one or more courses as the instructor of record at the graduate or undergraduate level
• Experience in?or the potential for?building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment in teaching, mentoring, research, life experiences, or service.
• Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and experience in?or the potential for?building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment in teaching, mentoring, research, life experiences, or service

Individuals interested in applying for the positions should submit the following materials:

1.     Cover letter addressing why this position is of interest.

2.     Curriculum vitae.

3.     A statement of professional goals highlighting: i) teaching and mentoring, ii) research both disciplinary and transdisciplinary, and iii) collaboration and alignment with the University of Tennessee?s PHE cluster. 

4.     Contact information for three references.

This institution is using Interfolio?s Faculty Search to conduct this search. Applicants to this position receive a free Dossier account and can send all application materials, including confidential letters of recommendation, free of charge.  Contact Suzie Allard at sallard@utk.edu (Subject line: Assistant Professor - PHE Cluster) for questions.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The University of Tennessee encourages applications from candidates who can contribute in meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the University. The position will be available for successful applicants to join the UTK SIS faculty and PHE cluster in August 2025.

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admission without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, and parental status, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law. In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the university. Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, and national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), the ADA (disability), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexual orientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Equity and Diversity, 1840 Melrose Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, telephone 865-974-2498. Requests for accommodation of a disability should be directed to the ADA Coordinator at the Office of Equity and Diversity.

About University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Our primary mission is to move forward the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate the citizens of the state of Tennessee, the nation, and the world. As the preeminent research-based, land-grant university in the state, UT embodies the spirit of excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity, outreach, and engagement attained by the nation’s finest public research institutions.

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