Description
Position Summary
Purdue University invites applications and nominations for the position of Head of the James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry, beginning August 2026. We seek a visionary leader with a distinguished record of scholarly achievement, effective administrative experience, success in securing external research funding, and a strong commitment to teaching excellence and to fostering an inclusive academic community. The successful candidate will hold the rank of Full Professor in Chemistry.
Department Head Responsibilities
- Provide strategic leadership that sustains existing strengths and promotes new high-impact research initiatives.
- Recruit, mentor, and retain exceptional faculty in all areas of chemistry.
- Foster a collegial and inclusive environment that supports the success of faculty, staff, and students.
- Advance excellence and innovation in graduate and undergraduate education.
- Oversee departmental budgets, research facilities, and staff operations.
- Advocate for the department to internal and external stakeholders, including alumni and industry partners, and participate in fundraising efforts.
- Strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations across Purdue and with industry/external research organizations.
Department Overview
The James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry at Purdue University is internationally recognized for excellence in research, education, and innovation. The department has a long history of scientific leadership, including Nobel Prize winning achievements in organic chemistry and a top-ranked analytical chemistry program. Research strengths span analytical instrumentation, synthetic chemistry and drug discovery, organometallic chemistry and catalysis, quantum information science, chemical biology, and structural biology. The department also has a strong record of entrepreneurship, with drug discovery efforts generating substantial royalties.
Faculty and students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities that include the Jonathan Amy Facility for Chemical Instrumentation, NMR and X-ray Crystallography Facilities, the Research Instrumentation Center, the AI Guided Drug Discovery and Automation Center, the High Throughput Experimentation Catalysis Center, the Center for Autonomous Materials Discovery, and the High Throughput DESI Facility.
Chemistry faculty play leading roles in university-wide initiatives such as Purdue’s Discovery Park, the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, the Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease, and the One Health Initiative. The Department is also actively involved in the Purdue Lilly 360 initiative, the largest academic- industry partnership in the US.
As of Fall 2025, the Department includes 57 faculty, 70 staff members, 7 lecturers, 62 postdoctoral researchers, 437 graduate students, and 485 undergraduate majors. The Department is a key contributor to the educational mission of Purdue University. In AY24-25, close to 16,500 undergraduate students and 1,750 graduate students were enrolled in CHM courses. Additional information is available at https://www.chem.purdue.edu/.
College of Science Overview
The Department of Chemistry is one of seven departments in the College of Science, which spans the physical sciences, computing, and life sciences. With more than 350 faculty and 6,000 undergraduates, it is Purdue’s second largest college. The College supports major initiatives such as Purdue Computes and One Health, and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration through numerous research centers and institutes. Partnerships with Engineering, Pharmacy, Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and Health and Human Sciences further enrich opportunities for research and education. More information is available at www.science.purdue.edu.
Requirements
Required Qualifications
Applicants must have
- a Ph.D. in Chemistry or a closely related field,
- a record of scholarly distinction consistent with appointment as a tenured Full Professor at an AAU institution, and
- evidence of effective academic leadership, including administrative experience, program development, faculty mentoring, or strategic planning.
Application Procedure
Review of applications will begin on January 16, 2026, and continue until the position is filled. The expected start date is August 2026.
Applications must be submitted through SuccessFactors https://careers.purdue.edu/job/Department-HeadProfessor-of-Chemistry/39996-en_US/
and should include
- a cover letter of one to two pages summarizing relevant research, teaching, and leadership experience,
- a vision statement of up to five pages addressing departmental leadership and plans to advance research, teaching, and professional development,
- a curriculum vitae, and
- names and contact information for three references. References will be contacted only for shortlisted candidates.
A background check is required for employment.
Nominations of outstanding candidates are welcome and should be sent to Prof. Julia Laskin, Chair of the Search Committee, at chem-faculty-search@purdue.edu.
Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer.
