1855 Assistant/Associate/Full Professor-Tenure System

About the role

The Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University invite applications for a tenure-system faculty position in hydrologic systems engineering and data science. Michigan holds the world's largest freshwater system, supports a diverse agricultural economy dependent on water, and is attracting water‑intensive industries such as data centers, EV battery production, and advanced manufacturing. Floods, droughts, and weather extremes across the Great Lakes region are increasing, stressing aging infrastructure and agricultural systems. MSU is uniquely positioned at the intersection of freshwater abundance, agricultural mission, and industrial water demand, and meeting these challenges is fundamentally an engineering problem.

The successful candidate will work on flood and drought forecasting, controllable urban water systems, resilient infrastructure, and data‑driven management of rivers, lakes, and groundwater. This includes coupling process‑based hydrologic and hydrodynamic modeling with AI, machine learning, remote sensing, high‑performance computing, and real‑time data infrastructure. Opportunities also exist in physics‑informed AI, digital twins of watersheds and water infrastructure, and smart‑sensed water systems grounded in a real freshwater‑agriculture‑industry setting.

Responsibilities

• Establish a sustainable, externally funded, and internationally visible research program.
• Make significant scholarly contributions to the discipline.
• Conduct community‑engaged research.
• Provide effective teaching and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students.
• Engage in institutional and professional service.
• Contribute to the university’s land‑grant mission of access, service, and advancing knowledge for the common good.
• Collaborate with and build on existing MSU activities focused on hydrologic systems engineering and data science, including collaborations between the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources on agricultural water management, the MSU One Health Initiative, the MSU Water Alliance, and campus units focused on sustainability and climate.
• Support MSU’s strategic priorities.

Requirements

• Earned PhD in Engineering or a closely related discipline at the time of appointment.
• Anticipated start date of August 16, 2027.
• Full‑time, academic‑year appointment in the tenure system; tenure, if appropriate, at a salary commensurate with the candidate’s background and experience.
• Appointment will be made in the Departments of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, based on existing strengths and capabilities and the candidate’s preferences.
• Demonstrated potential for high‑quality instruction and mentoring at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• Demonstrated ability and/or potential to provide service to the Departments, the University, and the profession, and to work with students and faculty from a variety of backgrounds.
• For Assistant Professor candidates: strong potential for high‑quality research likely to result in top‑level publications and national recognition.