The Ohio Wesleyan University Department of Physics and Astronomy invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professorship starting Fall 2021. Ph.D. required. The area of specialization is open, but we especially invite candidates with interdisciplinary research interests, for example in biophysics or neurophysics. The successful candidate must be an excellent teacher who can offer an array of lower- and upper-level courses, including a course in digital electronics and possibly one in computational physics, who maintains a productive research program that involves undergraduate physics majors from diverse backgrounds, and who contributes actively to the continued growth of the department and college. The typical teaching load will be 10-13 contact hours per semester. Ideal candidates will have experience teaching and mentoring students who are traditionally underrepresented in physics, including women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, first-generation students, and/or those with accessibility challenges.

Located in the Columbus, Ohio, metropolitan area, Ohio Wesleyan is a selective residential liberal arts college enrolling approximately 1,500 students from across the nation and around the world.  The college’s signature program, The OWU Connection, is designed to integrate student knowledge across disciplines, consider diverse and global perspectives, and teach students to apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book Colleges That Change Lives and was recently listed as the No. 1 liberal arts college in Ohio for social mobility by U.S. News & World Report. OWU is located in Delaware, Ohio, a lively college town just 30 minutes from Columbus, the 14th most populous city in the United States and part of the fastest-growing, most economically vibrant areas of the Midwest.  Columbus was named by LinkedIn as one of the top 10 U.S. cities in which to launch your career.

This job is part of a cluster of positions with which Ohio Wesleyan seeks to further diversify its curriculum and faculty. This faculty cohort will join an educational community that values equity and interdisciplinarity and fosters close working relationships with students through our signature program in experiential learning, the OWU Connection (https://www.owu.edu/academics/the-owu-connection). Incoming faculty will be provided with mentoring, professional development funds, and opportunities to connect with faculty across the Ohio 5 and GLCA consortia. For more information about the cluster, please visit owu.edu/joinOWUfaculty. For more information about Academic Affairs and its commitment to antiracism, please visit owu.edu/AcademicAffairsDEI.

To achieve our mission, we continually strive to foster a diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist campus community, which celebrates the value of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, color, gender identity and or expression, sexual orientation, family configuration, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, national origin, age or military status. OWU is an equal opportunity institution and seeks applications from individuals who will help us honor and strengthen our commitments to diversity, inclusion, and antiracism.

All department faculty contribute to the OWU Connection by mentoring senior majors in individual, year-long capstone research projects. The successful candidate is expected to engage enthusiastically in this mentoring role as well as in the OWU Connection in general. Other possible ways to be involved in The OWU Connection include teaching a travel-learning course, mentoring a student in summer research, and teaching the first-year UC160 (The OWU Connection) course.

A complete application will consist of the following: 

1. Cover letter
2. Current CV
3. Teaching statement: a statement that articulates your teaching philosophy and addresses your ability to teach a wide range of undergraduate physics courses.
4. Diversity statement: please describe your ability to employ a variety of pedagogical techniques to reach students from different backgrounds, including how you will intentionally address diversity, equity, and inclusion in your classroom.
5. Research plan: a statement that describes the research program you propose to carry out at OWU, including its suitability to meaningfully involve undergraduates, and your experience and/or approach to supporting students from underrepresented groups.
6. Official graduate and undergraduate transcripts
7. Three letters of reference

To apply, please send items #1-5 to facultyjobs@owu.edu and put the search number 2021-0028 in the subject line. The letters of reference should be sent to the same address with the search number by the letter writers themselves. Review of applications will begin on January 4, 2021, and continue until the position is filled.