"Associate or Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Director of the AI Center of Excellence"

Position Summary:

The Arkansas State University (A-State) AI Center of Excellence, housed in the Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI), invites applications for a 9-month, tenure-track or tenured faculty member at the rank of Associate or Full Professor to serve as its director. This is a research-focused position, and the successful candidate will be appointed as an Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Scholar and will receive $500,000 in research and AI Center support. A-State in partnership with the ARA is actively recruiting from outside the state to advance Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and support statewide economic development. We seek a dynamic scholar with an established record of externally funded research in AI, with applications in areas such as advanced agriculture, biomedical and biotechnological sciences, materials science, and steel manufacturing. Candidates are expected to maintain an independent and collaborative research program, actively mentor undergraduate and graduate students, and contribute to A-State’s growing research capacity. The tenure home for this position will be chosen based on the expertise and fit of the selected candidate, with opportunities for cross-department or cross-college affiliations with other units on campus. A key goal of this position is to expand ABI’s computational research capacity, support the ABI mission, and advance interdisciplinary efforts, such as with the Center for Advanced Materials and Steel Manufacturing at A-State (CAMSM). A $10M grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology is driving the effort to establish CAMSM. The goal of the Center will be to support state-of-the-art research in steels and advanced materials supported by data science and artificial intelligence. The A-State AI Center of Excellence is nascent, and we seek a visionary leader to guide its development and foster cross-campus collaboration.

Duties & Responsibilities:

This is a research-intensive position structured as follows: 70% research, 10% teaching, 10% administration, and 10% service. Primary responsibilities are those expected of a tenured faculty member and include leading an active and independent externally funded research program in AI; serving as PI on projects and collaborating with other faculty on interdisciplinary projects; mentoring undergraduate and graduate students; regular teaching (1 course per semester) in the home department and in the Environmental Sciences and Molecular Biosciences graduate programs; and providing professional and institutional service. Additionally, as Director of the A-State AI Center of Excellence, the candidate will shape the strategic direction of the Center and drive its growth through recruiting affiliate faculty members, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, and promoting the Center’s services and research products within the university, the Jonesboro community, and beyond. The Center should become an inclusive hub for innovative and interdisciplinary computational research that aligns with both ABI’s mission and ideally also supports A-State’s steel manufacturing initiative through CAMSM. A-State has a growing undergraduate program in Data Science and Data Analytics in the Department of Computer Science, and that department is hiring two tenure-track positions in Cybersecurity, which will be timely for the AI Center of Excellence. There is no limit to what fields should be engaged, and someone enthusiastic about cross-cutting collaborations in art, healthcare, education, biotechnology, agriculture, engineering, and manufacturing will be most successful.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

Ideal applicants would possess a PhD in an area such as computer science, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, or biological computation and be a tenured professor at an institution of higher education with a strong track record of successful grant awards, grant management, and publication. Additional demonstrated leadership skills or administrative experience is a plus.

Minimum Qualifications:

A Ph.D. in a STEM field and at least 5 years of experience as an Assistant Professor or equivalent.
In accordance with Arkansas Research Alliance guidelines, this position is designed to recruit leaders to Arkansas and is open only to candidates currently working outside the State of Arkansas.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants should apply online: http://jobs.astate.edu (position F00481). Please submit a cover letter that includes a vision or plans for the A-State AI Center of Excellence, a curriculum vitae, a statement of research experience and plans, a teaching philosophy, and contact information for at least three references.

QUESTIONS

regarding this position should be sent to: Dr. Jay Xu, Search Committee Chair, at jxu@astate.edu.

APPLICANT REVIEW

To take full advantage of this opportunity, applications should be submitted no later than December 31, 2025.

START DATE

August 16, 2026

SALARY

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.