Assistant Professor of Horticulture

About This Role

Assistant Professor of Horticulture (60% teaching/40% research) with expertise in landscape or production horticulture.

• Support the undergraduate program by teaching courses in horticulture. Anticipated teaching load is approximately 10-11 credit hours per academic year, plus internship supervision for students and supervision of undergraduate research as needed. Depending on the successful candidate’s expertise, potential courses to be taught include introductory/general horticulture, landscape plant identification/use, interior plantscaping, plant propagation, a one-credit freshman orientation course, and/or a general interest course in horticulture for non-majors.
  
  Other courses may be considered depending on the candidate’s expertise. Development of courses for online delivery is expected, in consultation with the department head or online programs coordinator.
• Serve as faculty mentor to undergraduate students in the Production Horticulture and Landscape Horticulture options, and other options as needed.
• Serve as primary faculty advisor to the Horticulture Club.
• Participate in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), through course and curriculum development, peer-reviewed publications, and/or collaborative activities that are validated by peers and communicated to others in the field.

• Develop an externally funded research program focused on production horticulture or landscape management.
• Publish research in peer-reviewed journals.
• Collaborate on research projects with on- and off-campus faculty (off-campus faculty are located at the Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center, Olathe, KS, and the John
  
  C. Pair Horticulture Center, Haysville, KS).
• Contribute to graduate education by serving as major professor to 2-3 graduate students, serving on graduate committees, and publishing results with graduate students.

The Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources originated in 1871 making it one of the first and oldest departments at Kansas State University. Today, as our mission statement underscores, we are committed to educating outstanding undergraduate and graduate students, contributing significant research results to solve problems associated with our disciplines, and providing our constituencies across the state, region and nation with excellent extension programs.

Our department conducts its activities at a variety of locations with facilities on the main campus in Manhattan and outlying research and education centers.

Founded in 1863 as the country's first operational land-grant university, Kansas State University has a student enrollment of 24,000 and 1,400+ full-time faculty members. It is located in Manhattan (The Little Apple), a culturally vibrant community of 55,000, surrounded by the Flint Hills regions of the state and rates as a Top 10 college town by the American Institute for Economic Research.

The Princeton Review placed Kansas State University in the top 10 for several individual categories, including town and gown relationship (#3), best quality of life (#4), and happiest students (#8).

Additionally, Kansas State University is a national leader among public universities in the total number of Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater and Udall prestigious scholarship winners.

This position is On-site
.

All employees must reside in the United States when they begin working to comply with state law. K-State is unable to provide remote or hybrid work opportunities for residents of the state of Idaho.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Horticulture or related field

The degree requirement is necessary for accreditation purposes and to ensure candidates possess the specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities that can only be attained through a formal educational program at this level.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Teaching experience
• Demonstrated record of publishing research in peer-reviewed journals
• Demonstrated record of obtaining extramural funding to support research
• Demonstrated experience in landscape management or production horticulture

Sponsorship eligibility: Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. on an ongoing basis without sponsorship.

Please submit the following documents:

Applications close on:
March 1, 2026

Commensurate with experience and qualifications.