"Dean"

The James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences (Wyant College) at The University of Arizona (U of A), a premier center for research, education, and outreach in optics, invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean.

The Dean at the James C. Wyant College of Optical Science at the University of Arizona is a leadership position responsible for supporting and advancing the work of the College. This role is critical to ensuring efficient operational effectiveness of the College. The incumbent will lead and oversee strategic priorities and objectives for the College and the university, and as such will demonstrate strong alignment with the U of A's mission, values, and strategic vision, and possess a record of success, sound judgement, integrity, discretion and flexibility working in a complex, dynamic and demanding environment.

With the arrival of our new President Suresh Garimella, the U of A is positioned for a strong financial future with an accelerated focus on its mission of excellence in educating students, conducting outstanding research, and delivering on its land-grant mission. This is a preeminent opportunity for a forward-focused leader, experienced with the changes occurring in higher education, and eager to work in close partnership with President Garimella and senior leadership colleagues to guide the University of Arizona through this time of critical change.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Dean is expected to provide executive leadership and vision for the College's research and academic programs, to maintain excellence and accreditation in existing programs, and to foster new programs within emerging discipline areas of high impact. Additional responsibilities include strategic planning; executive-level fiscal management and accountability for the College; faculty recruitment, development, and evaluation; student recruitment and retention; fundraising from a variety of governmental, industrial, and philanthropic sources, and university and community relations. In addition, a critical role will be to steward the College's diverse sources of Endowment, including the largest endowed chair program in the history of the State of Arizona created by the College's namesake James C. Wyant in 2019.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the ability to provide College leadership and strong engagement in academic, research, management, and University-wide endeavors.

Academic Leadership

As an academic leader, the Dean will be concerned with articulating and advancing the intellectual vision and academic agenda of the Wyant College of Optical Sciences as an integrated program that combines education, research, scholarship, and service. The Dean will be expected to formulate and promote a college-level strategic plan in collaboration with faculty that aligns with the collective vision of the discipline expertise resident within the organization. The Dean will also be expected to advance innovative curricular initiatives, foster organizational processes that meet the needs of students and faculty, and recruit and retain high-quality faculty worthy of the College's legacy of scientific and educational impact. Faculty recruitment must be balanced to ensure that they form a synergetic college portfolio that contributes to the vitality of our academic programs as well as bringing distinguished leadership to the research and outreach missions of the College.

Research and Innovation Leadership

As a research leader, the Dean will be expected to champion, facilitate, and advocate for excellence in the research mission of the college. The Dean will shape the College's growth in the scale, scope, and magnitude of its research and ensure that the college is fully aligned with the strategic research imperatives and priorities of the university. In addition, the Dean will promote transdisciplinary research and will work closely with other colleges and the Office of Research, Innovation and Impact (RII) to foster collaboration that maximizes the growth and impact of the University's research enterprise. The Dean will be an advocate for innovation and will value, promote, and facilitate the ability of faculty to advance their interests in technology commercialization and startup creation in partnership with RII and Tech Launch Arizona. Furthermore, the Dean will foster partnerships with philanthropic organizations and promote and facilitate sponsored research agreements with private sector industry to advance the research goals of the College and the University.

Management Leadership

The Dean will be expected to plan and oversee budgeting to exercise fiscal stewardship and responsibility for college resources across diverse sources of revenue and will be responsible for managing activities related to personnel policy and personnel actions (recruitment, retention, reviews, managing grievances, etc.). As part of the role and personnel responsibilities, the Dean will maintain an organizational climate and budgetary processes that advance the goals and objectives of both the College and the University's strategic plans and programs.

University Leadership

Present an effective participation in decanal discussion groups, working in partnership with other colleges and campus units to enhance the university's overall excellence in teaching, research, and outreach is essential. The Dean may also be called upon by the University leadership in helping to plan future strategic initiatives for the university which may include engaging in development and outreach into the many and diverse constituencies the university serves. This may occasionally require setting aside specific interests of a college in favor of support for broader institutional objectives.

Stakeholder Engagement

The College has several interdisciplinary partnerships and national prominence across multiple public and private sector enterprises, industry societies, and governmental agencies. Personal strengths as a premier scholar, researcher, and educator in the field are desired to properly represent and advocate for both the College, the University, and the field of optical sciences as a whole at the local, state and national levels where appropriate.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to create and sustain interdisciplinary research and education initiatives in collaboration with organizational leaders of cognate academic units and research centers across the university.
• Exemplary interpersonal and communication skills to effectively communicate with a wide audience of students, faculty, university administrators, alumni, advisory board members, community members, and potential benefactors.
• Demonstrated commitment to academic excellence at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Minimum Qualifications

• An earned doctorate and a distinguished record of scholarship, sponsored research, teaching and service in a field appropriate for tenured appointment in one of the four major discipline areas of the College.
• Strong and proven capabilities in complex organizational management, including strategic planning, financial stewardship, budget creation, resource allocation, human resource management, risk management, and related decision-making.
• A strong personal record of research excellence and international reputation for research in a field aligned with the major elements of the College.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated leadership experience in a technically diverse organization or academic unit associated with optics, engineering, physics, or related fields.
• Experience in philanthropy.