Dean-James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences

Dean-James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences

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.

The University of Arizona Established in 1885, the U of A is Arizona's flagship, land-grant university and a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. Recognized as a global leader in higher education and classified as a Carnegie R1 institution, the U of A conducts more than $1 billion in research and development activities each year and is currently ranked in the top 25 among American public universities. Advancing the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships, the university benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $8.3 billion annually. The 3,300 faculty of the U of A serve more than 45,000 undergraduate students and over 11,000 graduate and professional students. The U of A offers more than 300 majors and provides undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs in its 22 colleges.

The university is also closing in on its $3 billion Fuel Wonder fundraising campaign. Fuel Wonder harnesses the power of philanthropy to enhance the student experience and inspire the next generation of changemakers. Supporting scholarships for students and endowed professorships and chairs for faculty, Fuel Wonder helps the U of A continue to transform lives and conduct world-changing research.

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Outstanding UA benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; UA / ASU / NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; retirement plans; access to UA recreation and cultural activities; and more!

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The Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona is home to one of the most vibrant and rapidly growing optics education and research organizations in the world. The college conducts research and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in a wide range of optical disciplines which are organized across four major discipline areas : Optical Engineering, Optical Physics, Imaging Science, and Photonics. It has approximately 60 primary faculty members, and approximately 20 joint faculty with joint appointments across 9 other University departments including Physics, Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Astronomy. The College is home to some of the most respected and established scientific minds in the field, with faculty holding prestigious positions and honors within the National Academies and industry associations and has included three Nobel Laureates.

The College currently hosts approximately 150 undergraduate students majoring in Optical Sciences and Engineering and 350 graduate students representing the largest PhD program in the United States of its kind. Additionally, the college offers an online program via Arizona Online that largely facilitates students' graduate education while employed in industry.

Regarded as one of the most research-intensive Colleges on campus, the College manages a diverse portfolio of sponsored research initiatives across federal, philanthropic, and for-profit partnerships, with the broadest portfolio of industry research engagements on campus. As an extension of these partnerships, Wyant College also boasts an active Industrial Affiliates Program with more than sixty member companies which meet on campus twice a year to engage in student recruitment and research collaborations.

Wyant College is housed within the Meinel Complex, sitting directly off the University of Arizona Mall, and is home to over 100,000 SQFT of advanced research labs and educational classrooms. To facilitate the rapid growth of the College, in 2020 the University supported the addition of the Grand Challenges Research Building (GCRB) within the Meinel Complex. The GCRB was completed in 2024 and houses four full floors of Wyant College faculty and is home to the College's NSF Center for Quantum Networks (CQN). Valued at over $50M for over ten years CQN is working to build the foundations of the Quantum Internet. GCRB is quickly becoming a valuable interdisciplinary hub on campus where scientists across Optics, Engineering, Physics, Astronomy, and other disciplines work to tackle the major scientific challenges of the modern world.

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