Computing Research Association
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) invites applications, nominations, and inquiries as it seeks an experienced and visionary leader with a deep commitment to both access and academic excellence to serve as the next Head of the Department of Computer Science (CS) in the College of Engineering. UIC, the largest and only public research university in Chicago, is a Carnegie-classification R1 institution and federally designated minority-serving university. In FY2023, UIC received over $500M in sponsored research awards. UIC is among the most diverse research universities in the country, is highly rated for its impact on social mobility, and is ranked among the highest-value colleges in the U.S.
The College of Engineering
The mission of the College of Engineering is to provide access to excellence and success: the College educates students to innovate and to lead. It aims to expand global knowledge of engineering and computer science fields through distinction in original research and, as a public institution, to prioritize its relationship with the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois. UIC Engineering also aims to foster strong local partnerships, provide crucial engineering expertise and facilities, and serve as a major economic driver for the city. The College has six departments: Biomedical Engineering; Chemical Engineering; Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Driven by the combination of accessibility and excellence, student enrollment at the College has skyrocketed: with over 57% enrollment growth over the last decade, the College now has over 6,200 students, approximately half of which are CS students.
The Department of Computer Science
The CS department seeks to conduct outstanding research, provide an excellent computing education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and continue to further the diversity of its student body and faculty. The Department has been very successful in research, with csrankings.org consistently placing UIC CS in the 40s overall and around 20 to 25 for Artificial Intelligence, with some subfields of AI ranking in the top 20.
The CS department has seen explosive growth in the last decade. From fall 2013 to fall 2023, undergraduate enrollment grew from just under 500 to over 2,100, and graduate enrollment increased more than 70% from 252 to 432. By January 2025, the CS department will have over 80 faculty members, compared with 29 in 2014. To accommodate the growth, a new state-of-the-art five-story computer science building is currently under construction, scheduled for occupancy in early 2025.
In recent years, the CS department has created two new undergraduate majors, one in Data Science and one in CS + Design, and has partnered with UIC’s Liberal Arts and Sciences College on a CS + Linguistics major. The CS department is starting its fifth year running Break Through Tech Chicago, funded by one of the largest grants in the history of the UIC College of Engineering, received from Pivotal Ventures, Melinda French Gates’s social good organization, and directed towards undergraduate gender diversity efforts in computer science at UIC. Since the grant started, the CS department has seen significant growth in the percentage of women in the department’s majors, increasing from 19 to 26 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2023, representing an absolute increase of about 310 additional women among the department’s majors.
Minimum Requirements
The successful applicant must have a doctoral degree in computer science, or a closely related discipline, and a proven track record of scholarly achievement that merits appointment at the rank of full professor with indefinite tenure, as well as a proven track record in administrative leadership in academia, industry, or government.
The successful applicant will be an innovative thinker with the necessary leadership skills to guide and promote the CS department to a higher level of excellence and impact. The candidate should be able to articulate and communicate the impact the CS department has already made and a collective vision for the future of the CS department’s education and research missions to a large constituency that includes current faculty, the university, the broader academic community, government, industry, non-profits, and alumni.
The duties and responsibilities of a Department Head are as outlined in the University of Illinois Statutes, Article IV, Section 3.
Application Process
For fullest consideration, please submit your CV, letter of intent, and the names of three references by November 3, 2024.
Submit here
As an EOE/AA employer, the University of Illinois Chicago encourages applications from individuals regardless of an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, and Veteran or disability status.
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