"Assistant Professor in Aerospace Engineering - Dynamics and Control"

Job Details

Position Rank and Title: Assistant Professor

School/Department Name: Aerospace Engineering

Compensation: Commensurate with qualifications, experience, and rank as established by the CSU Salary Schedule. Anticipated hiring academic year annual salary range: $102,000 - $126,000

Faculty employee benefits are very competitive for the higher education sector. See the CSU Employee Benefits Summary for details about the CSU’s excellent benefits package.

Target Start Date: August 2026

Priority Application Deadline: December 15, 2025 (Applications may be accepted after the priority application deadline until filled or closed)

Position Description

The Aerospace Engineering Department at San José State University is pleased to announce a search for a full-time Assistant Professor beginning in August 2026.

The Department offers an MSAE program with an enrollment of 77 and an ABET-accredited BSAE program with an enrollment of 512. Student populations in the Department are very diverse with Asian (33%) and Hispanic/Latinx (32%) being the two largest groups. AE students are supported in a thriving learning community which offers on-demand tutoring for all required courses, student mentoring, and an AE women’s forum. Our courses combine student-centered pedagogies, such as in-class cooperative problem solving, integrated project-based learning, and physical laboratories in aerodynamics, aerospace structures, dynamics and controls, space systems engineering, and rocketry. Professional skills are integrated throughout the curriculum with strong emphasis on design-build-test-and-fly/launch projects involving UAVs, microsatellites, and rockets. Many of these projects involve collaboration with NASA and local industry. The Technology Education Satellite program (TechEdSat) in particular, was pioneered through a collaboration of the Department with NASA Ames Research Center. The College is the leading provider of engineers to Silicon Valley. A link to the Department is found at https://www.sjsu.edu/ae/

The Department and San José State University value inclusive excellence and are committed to advancing equity through research, teaching, and service. We enroll nearly 40,000 students, many of whom are historically underserved; approximately 45% of our undergraduate students are first-generation college students and 38% are Pell Grant recipients. In addition, we are both a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI). SJSU aspires to create holistic learning environments that facilitate both individual and collective transformation. We seek teacher-scholars who cultivate inclusive, empowering spaces for mutual learning, skill-building, and knowledge exchange for all students. Our commitment to lifelong learning supports meaningful connections among faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the broader communities we serve.

We invite all applicants to include a Statement of Inclusive Excellence (or incorporate it into your cover letter) to share how your lived and professional experiences will contribute to the SJSU community—particularly in relation to student success and inclusive education. A guide to writing this statement can be found at SJSU Inclusive Excellence Statement Guidelines.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering or closely related field.
• Applicants should demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to the educational goals of a socially and economically diverse student population as might have been gained in cross-cultural study, training, teaching, and other comparable experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Specialization: Dynamics and control. Priority will be given to candidates with expertise in aerospace autonomous systems and / or eVTOL systems / urban air mobility.

Key Responsibilities

• The successful candidate is expected to (a) teach and assess undergraduate and graduate courses in their area of specialization, (b) develop laboratory experiments to support teaching and research, (c) supervise graduate and undergraduate student projects, and (d) engage in peer reviewed scholarly work.
• Aerospace Engineering faculty members are expected to collaborate with each other as well as with other faculty within and outside the College for course and curriculum design, course and program assessment, and other scholarly pursuits. The candidate will participate in shared governance in department, college, and university committees and other service assignments.
• Faculty shall organize all their classes within the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS).
• The candidate must demonstrate awareness and experience in understanding the needs of a student population of great diversity – in age, abilities, cultural background, ethnicity, religion, economic background, primary language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and academic preparation – through inclusive course materials, teaching strategies, and advisement.

Other Duties

Note that all San José State University employees are considered mandated reporters under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and are required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment. Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) and CSU systemwide policy, some faculty duties may lead to designation as a Campus Security Authority (CSA). CSAs are required to complete Clery Act training and to immediately report Clery incidents to the institution.

Faculty employees must complete CSU employee training as assigned and required based on their role (e.g., Data Security, FERPA, Preventing Discrimination and Harassment, Title IX, Health and Safety). The President may recommend or require compliance with safety measures that decrease the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission or illness and allows the core mission and activities of the campus to continue.

Application Procedure Click Apply Now to complete the SJSU Online Employment Application and attach the following documents: letter of interest, curriculum vitae, inclusive excellence statement (2 pages maximum), statement of teaching interests/philosophy (2 pages maximum), research plans (2 pages maximum), three references with contact information.

Inquiries may be directed to the Department Chair or Search Committee Chair: Nikos Mourtos, nikos.mourtos@sjsu.edu.