Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Department of Nuclear Engineering, Fa.

Overview

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor (2 Positions Available), Department of Nuclear Engineering, Fall 2026 (1/2).

Location:

UT Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN. Open Date:
Oct 8, 2025.

Description:

The Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) is seeking applications to fill two tenure-track Assistant Professor faculty positions at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) in Tullahoma, TN starting on August 1, 2026. Duties include teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in nuclear engineering-related subjects, generating externally funded research, advising graduate students, writing scholarly journal articles, and providing service to the department, college, university, and professional community.

Applicants must have a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering or a closely related field by the effective date of appointment.

• Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in nuclear engineering-related subjects.
• Generate externally funded research and secure external funding.
• Advise graduate students and contribute to their academic development.
• Write scholarly journal articles and contribute to the department's research outputs.
• Provide service to the department, college, university, and professional community.

Applicants should be able to contribute to existing courses and research activities in nuclear engineering, as well as to develop new avenues of research and teaching. Specific areas of expertise sought in this search include nuclear science and engineering relevant to aerospace and defense applications, but candidates with strong potential to contribute to the three signature capabilities of our department may also be considered.

These departmental signature strengths include:

• Ensuring the sustainability and future expansion of nuclear power;
• Radiation detection, nuclear security and non-proliferation; and
• Radiological engineering, nuclear chemistry and medicine, and medical physics.

Ideally, successful candidates could work across more than one of these complex research areas. Preference will be given to candidates who have demonstrated research success that complements existing University of Tennessee needs or strengths and with the vision to develop collaborative and sustainable funded research activities. In addition to demonstrated excellence in research and the potential for developing a highly visible, externally funded research program, successful candidates will also be committed to high-quality teaching.

The University of Tennessee Nuclear Engineering Department is part of the Tickle College of Engineering, which has the fastest growing PhD program among the Top 40 public colleges of engineering. The department has a diverse research portfolio and is the largest Nuclear Engineering PhD program in the United States with over 120 PhD students and $15.6M in research expenditures for the  academic year.

According to ASEE, it also has the second largest undergraduate program. In 2021 we moved into a new $129M building, which houses more than 23 new nuclear engineering laboratories and computational resources. In the past 3 years, our undergraduate program has experienced an unprecedented ~100% growth in first-year enrollment with 97 new freshmen. UTK has close collaborations with ORNL, Y-12, and more than 150 nuclear-related companies within 50 miles of campus and is located close to the beautiful Smoky Mountains.

The Nuclear Engineering Department is committed to cultivating work/life balance and a family-friendly work environment for faculty, staff, and students.

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success, including adding over 30 new faculty to the college over 4 years as part of ambitious hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years.

New facilities include the state-of-the-art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building now under construction that will house UTK’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF).

TCE currently has 203 tenure/tenure track and 79 non-tenure track faculty in its nine academic departments and offers 11 undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD/DE degree programs. Affiliated with TCE and located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the UT Space Institute is a hub of aerospace and defense research. The college is also home to eight research centers and three interdisciplinary institutes. With approximately 4,300 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students, the college sits 29th among public universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings.

Faculty in the college have won 29 early career awards (NSF, DOE, DARPA, AFOSR, and ARO)…