Director, CYFS and Full Professor

Director and Full Professor

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools

College of Education and Human Sciences

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools (CYFS), in partnership with the College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), seeks an accomplished research leader to serve as Director. This opportunity is ideally suited for a senior principal investigator or current research center director with a strong record of externally funded, interdisciplinary research and experience leading a large, complex research enterprise.

CYFS is a nationally recognized, revenue-generating research center advancing high-impact scholarship in the social, behavioral, and educational sciences. For more than two decades, CYFS has played a central role in driving research excellence, external funding, and interdisciplinary collaboration across the University of Nebraska system.

Key Responsibilities

• Sustaining and expanding external funding.
• Guiding long-term strategic planning.
• Strengthening interdisciplinary research collaborations.
• Overseeing fiscal and administrative operations.
• Positioning CYFS for continued growth, visibility, and scholarly impact.
• Play a central role in shaping research priorities and mentoring research faculty and staff.
• Cultivating internal and external partnerships at the university, community, state, and national levels.

Minimum Required Qualifications

• Earned doctorate in a discipline aligned with the social, behavioral, or educational sciences.
• Academic and scholarly achievements that support the rank of full professor with tenure, according to CEHS and UNL qualifications and standards, including peer-reviewed publications and sustained contributions to the candidate’s field(s).
• Evidence of success and established record in obtaining and managing externally funded research.
• Established record serving as principal investigator or co–principal investigator on competitively awarded grants from external sources, including but not limited to federal agencies.
• Demonstrated research leadership experience, such as directing a research center, institute, or large program of research; or leading multi-investigator and/or interdisciplinary research initiatives.
• Proven ability to mentor and support staff and colleagues across the career span.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with an emphasis on communication with a variety of stakeholder groups (faculty, staff, administrators, funding agencies, and external partners).