About the Role

Our client is seeking a dynamic and innovative scholar for the position of Associate or Full Professor in Artificial Intelligence. This full-time, tenure-track role is designed for candidates with a proven track record in AI research, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The successful candidate will contribute to advancing the institution’s academic mission through impactful AI-focused scholarship, teaching, and mentorship.

This is a senior faculty appointment at an institution that views AI research not as a specialty silo but as a transformative force across disciplines — with particular emphasis on applications in education, information science, ethics, and societal impact. The ideal candidate brings both the research depth expected of a senior scholar and the intellectual curiosity to work across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Required Qualifications by Rank

Additional Required Qualifications — Both Ranks

Key Responsibilities

Research and Scholarship

• Establish and maintain an active, externally visible research agenda in AI, with a focus on applications, societal impacts, ethical considerations, and the intersection of AI with education and information systems.
• Publish in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and present findings at leading AI and interdisciplinary conferences that reflect the stature of the appointment.
• Pursue and secure external research funding through grants, industry partnerships, and collaborative proposals that support both personal scholarship and the department’s research capacity.

Teaching and Curriculum

• Develop and deliver courses in both face-to-face and online modalities, primarily at the graduate level, with opportunities for undergraduate instruction in AI and related subjects.
• Create curricula that explore the intersection of AI and information sciences — particularly applications for libraries, education, knowledge systems, and ethical AI practice — with a commitment to intellectual rigor and practical relevance.
• Stay current with rapidly evolving AI developments and integrate new tools, frameworks, and scholarly perspectives into course design on an ongoing basis.

Mentorship and Graduate Supervision

• Advise and mentor graduate students at the Master’s and Doctoral levels, providing substantive guidance on research design, methodology, scholarly writing, and professional development.
• Support doctoral students in building competitive academic and research profiles, including publication, conference participation, and career placement.

Design, Ethics, and Applied Research

• Conceptualize, create, and evaluate AI-driven designs, tools, and curricula that enhance learning environments, information systems, and knowledge dissemination infrastructure.
• Investigate the ethical, societal, and cultural dimensions of AI, with particular emphasis on privacy, inclusivity, bias mitigation, and the responsible deployment of AI in educational and public information contexts.
• Analyze AI’s complexities and explore implications for libraries, pedagogical practice, and the broader information ecosystem, connecting scholarly findings to real-world policy and practice.

Service and Institutional Engagement

• Contribute to departmental, institutional, and professional service initiatives that advance the institution’s leadership in AI research and education.
• Participate in faculty governance, curriculum development, program review, and hiring consistent with rank and institutional expectations.

Preferred Research Focus Areas

• AI ethics, privacy, transparency, and bias mitigation in algorithmic and learning systems.
• Development, deployment, and evaluation of AI-driven tools, platforms, and curricula in educational and information science contexts.
• Societal impacts of AI including applications in libraries, public education, knowledge management, and civic information systems.
• AI-enhanced design of inclusive, accessible, and equitable learning and knowledge-sharing environments.
• Interdisciplinary approaches connecting AI research with education, policy, humanities, or social science methodologies.

What the Institution Offers

Application Requirements

Candidates are required to submit the following materials. Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.

1. A letter of application including a research statement that explicitly positions AI as a core area of scholarly expertise and outlines the candidate’s research agenda and its relationship to the institution’s mission.
2. Curriculum vitae including full publication list, courses taught, funded projects, and relevant professional service.
3. Two sample publications or pieces of scholarly work representative of the candidate’s current research.
4. A teaching portfolio including sample syllabi, teaching evaluations, or equivalent evidence of instructional effectiveness.
5. A list of three professional references with complete contact information (name, institution, phone, and email).
6. Three letters of recommendation, signed on official letterhead — required for finalists only.

Retained Search by Excelon Associates

Excelon Associates is a retained executive search firm headquartered in Asheville, NC, with additional offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL. Our higher education practice places senior faculty, program directors, and academic leaders at universities committed to building world-class AI and technology programs across the United States. Since 2007 we have supported institutions in recruiting the research talent that drives academic reputation and long-term program impact.

For institutions seeking exceptional senior AI faculty at the Associate or Full Professor level, Excelon Associates is a trusted recruitment partner. Reach out to start a confidential conversation, or browse our full sample job descriptions library for related faculty and AI research roles.