Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) appreciates your interest in employment at our growing institution. We want your application process to go smoothly and quickly. Final applications must be submitted prior to the close of the recruitment.

If you need assistance or have questions regarding the application process, please contact our recruitment helpline at (775) 784-1495 or jobs@unr.edu.

Job Description

The School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Materials Engineering and the George W. Gillemot Aerospace Program at the University of Nevada, Reno seeks candidates for a tenure track faculty opening in Aerospace Engineering. This tenure-track position will be responsible for teaching, research, and service responsibilities, as described below. The anticipated starting date is July 1, 2027.

Based on the University’s mission as a land grant institution, faculty duties will include undergraduate and graduate teaching, supervision of graduate students, performance of research, development of externally funded research projects, and university and professional service. With a recent $36M donation from the Gillemot Foundation, the department expanded its aerospace research and education, including the creation of comprehensive BS, MS, and PhD degree programs in Aerospace Engineering and hiring of four AE faculty since Spring 2025.   

 

Required Qualifications

• Doctoral Degree in Aerospace Engineering or another closely related field.
• Candidates whose specialization and interests complement existing research and instructional strengths in the department and affiliated programs will be preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

We are seeking candidates working across a broad range of aerospace engineering areas. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: aeronautics, including aerodynamics, propulsion, fluid mechanics, and flight dynamics and control; aerospace structures and materials; and space systems, including orbital mechanics and spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control. 

Candidates working across disciplinary boundaries are especially encouraged to apply. Candidates are sought who can perform outstanding research and teach relevant AE and ME courses.

 

Compensation Grade

Assistant Professor, tenure-track, 9-month  

To view the salary schedule for this position, please visit: Salary Schedules and select Academic Faculty (Engineering 9-month contract). Salary is competitive and commensurate with related education and experience.

Remarkable Retirement

Our retirement plan is beyond compare. Your 19.25% contribution is generously matched by the University. With the faculty retirement plan, you are 100% vested on your first day. Sit back and watch your retirement dollars grow! All permanent employees on an annual "A" or "B" contract who are employed at least 50% full-time are eligible to participate in the NSHE retirement program unless they are members of PERS of Nevada.

Perks of Working at UNR!

• Health insurance options including dental and vision - Health Insurance
• Generous sick leave, life insurance, and long-term disability – Faculty Benefit
• E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center offers an annual or semester membership and family membership options.  E.L. Wiegand Fitness Center
• Mountain EAP supports employees (and eligible dependents) through life's difficult moments. Mountain EAP is located in Reno and specializes in counseling and advising services for personal or interpersonal issues.
• Faculty Senate is the principal representing body for faculty. Its membership includes representatives from each academic and administrative major unit of the University. Faculty Senate
• No state income tax!

 

Grants-in-Aid for Faculty Employees

The University is proud to provide a reduced-rate tuition benefit to faculty and qualified dependents. Faculty can take up to six credits per semester at a reduced rate. Dependents of faculty have unlimited credits, but in order to be eligible children must be unmarried and under the age of 24 and must receive at least 50% of their financial support from the employee and/or employee’s spouse or domestic partner.  Faculty Grants-in-Aid

 

Faculty Dual Career Assistance Program

The University of Nevada, Reno recognizes the importance of addressing dual-career couples’ professional needs. We offer a dual career assistance program to newly hired faculty spouses/partners that provides resources and assists them to identify career opportunities in Northern Nevada. Dual Career Assistance Program

 

School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Materials Engineering

The George W. Gillemot Aerospace Program was established in 2023 with a $36 million gift from the George W. Gillemot Foundation. It is housed in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Materials Engineering where our faculty focuses on advancing national efforts in space exploration, manufacturing, robotics, autonomous vehicles, as well as developing the systems and processes to best utilize our natural resources, including critical materials. School resources include access to the University’s High Performance Computing facility and the new $100-million William N. Pennington Engineering Building houses an ISO-5 (CLASS 100) cleanroom. In addition, the School is developing new Industrial Engineering facilities to support a Smart Factory/Flexible Manufacturing System learning environment, including space for industrial automation equipment, student work areas, vision systems, and related manufacturing and logistics training platforms. 

 

About the College of Engineering

Join the College of Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. We value faculty and staff as partners in our mission to deliver outstanding education, research and engagement. Our college seeks individuals committed to:

• Engaging in impactful outreach
• Providing state-of-the-art education
• Fostering respect, inclusiveness, and diversity

Nevada Engineering is a fast-growing college, with research expenditure that has doubled over the past nine years. Supported by an Engineering Research Office, the college recorded $24 million in expenditures in FY26 and offers professional development resources to ensure success. We offer bachelor’s, graduate degrees and certificates through three schools:

• Civil, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering
• Computer Science, Electrical, and Biomedical Engineering
• Mechanical, Industrial, and Materials Engineering

 

Our specialized facilities include the Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research, Cybersecurity Center, the Nanofabrication Lab in the Davidson Foundation Cleanroom and the Nevada Water Innovation Institute. Located near the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center and offering ready access to the bustling California economy, Nevada Engineering collaborates with leading tech firms and advance research in robotics, AI, battery technology, aerospace, water systems and sustainable energy. In Reno, you will find world-class outdoor recreation opportunities, including skiing, hiking, biking and water sports in nearby Lake Tahoe and throughout the northern Nevada region. Learn more at unr.edu/engineering

 

Reno Area Information

The Reno area has an ethnically diverse population of over 500,000, with growing engineering, aerospace, high-tech, and arts communities, and an international airport 10 minutes from the University. Situated on the banks of the Truckee River on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, the city is 45 minutes from Lake Tahoe and its magnificent recreational opportunities, 3 hours from Yosemite National Park, and 4 hours from San Francisco and the Pacific coast.

 

Contact Information

Search Committee Chair, Matteo Aureli at maureli@unr.edu

 

 

Exempt

Yes

Full-Time Equivalent

100.0%

Required Attachment(s)

Please note, once you submit your application, the only attachment/s viewable to you will be the attachment/s to the resume/CV section of the application Any additional required attachment/s attachment/s to the cover letter, references, additional documents sections of the application, will not be viewable to you after you submit your application. All uploaded attachment/s will be on the application for the committee to review. To request updates to attachments, prior to the committee review of applications, please contact the candidate helpdesk at jobs@unr.edu.

 

Attach the following attachments to your application

1) Resume/CV

2) Cover Letter with statement of qualifications

3) Statement of research philosophy and future research plans

4) Statement of teaching philosophy and interests. Include description of the courses of the aerospace engineering curriculum interested in teaching and the development of any new courses.

5) Contact information for Three Professional References 

Full Consideration

For full consideration, applications will be reviewed beginning January 1, 2027.

This posting is open until filled

Qualified individuals are encouraged to apply immediately. This search will close without notice when a sufficient number of applications are received or a hiring decision has been made.

Posting Close Date

Note to Applicant

A background check will be conducted on the candidate(s) selected for hire.

  

HR will attempt to verify academic credentials upon receipt of hiring documents. If the academic credentials cannot be verified, HR will notify the faculty member that an official transcript of their highest degree must be submitted within thirty days of the faculty member’s first day of employment.

  

References will be contacted at the appropriate phase of the recruitment process.

Applicants hired on a federal contract may be subject to E-Verify.

  

As part of the hiring process, applicants for positions in the Nevada System of Higher Education may be required to demonstrate the ability to perform job-related tasks.

  

For positions that require driving, evidence of a valid driver's license will be required at the time of employment and as a condition of continued employment.

    

Schedules are subject to change based on organizational needs.

The University of Nevada, Reno is committed to providing a place of work and learning free of discrimination on the basis of a person’s age (40 or older), disability, whether actual or perceived by others (including service-connected disabilities), gender (including pregnancy related conditions), military status or military obligations, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, race (including hair texture and protected hairstyles such as natural hairstyles, afros, bantu knots, curls, braids, locks and twists), color, or religion (protected classes). 

About Us

The University of Nevada, Reno is a leading public research university committed to the promise of a future powered by knowledge. Founded in 1874 as Nevada’s original land-grant university, the University serves more than 23,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and 63 countries.

Classified by the Carnegie® Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1 (“Very High Research”) university, it is also recognized in the Carnegie® Community Engagement classification. The University is also ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the “Best National Universities” and “Best National Public Universities.” It also ranks in the top tier of the WSJ/Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the New York Times’ “Top Colleges for Economic Diversity.”

Since 2009, nearly $1 billion has been has invested in advanced labs, facilities, and residence halls on the main campus. The University is home to Nevada’s first medical school – the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and the Wayne L. Prim Campus at Lake Tahoe, where education, research, and creative work thrive in a stunning mountain setting. The University delivers on its original land-grant mission with outreach across the state through the University of Nevada, Reno Extension, Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Nevada Small Business Development Center, the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, and Wolf Pack Athletics.

The main campus is in Reno, Nevada, a burgeoning global technology hub with a vibrant midtown and downtown. Found where the high desert of the Great Basin meets the High Sierra and Lake Tahoe, the beautiful, 290-acre main campus is also a Nevada State Arboretum. The University’s physical infrastructure is expanding with ongoing construction of the newly named John Tullock Business Building, set to open in fall 2025. Groundbreaking is also planned for a new State Public Health Laboratory Building on campus, alongside the recent acquisition of 16 parcels near campus, known as “University Village,” to provide affordable housing for graduate students and early career faculty.

Collaborating with world-renowned organizations, the University fosters innovation through initiatives such as the Digital Wolf Pack partnership with Apple, which ensures equitable access to technology for students, providing new incoming freshman or transfer students with an iPad Air and accessories. Google’s TechWise initiate is an 18-month program that fully supports undergraduate students in becoming entry-level software engineers by graduation.

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced that Nevada – led by the University of Nevada, Reno – was named one of the inaugural 31 Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (TechHubs). Nevada was selected from a competitive pool of 489 applicants from across the United States and its territories. Nevada’s Tech Hub will strengthen America’s lithium batteries, critical elements and other electric vehicle materials industry sectors within the state.

Through its commitment to high-impact education, world-improving research and creative activity, and outreach that’s transforming Nevada’s communities and businesses, the University continues its 150-year tradition of benefitting our state, nation and world.

The University recognizes that diversity promotes excellence in education and research. The inclusive and engaged community on campus recognizes the added value that students, faculty, and staff from different backgrounds bring to the educational experience.

Today, the University delivers on its original land-grant mission of access to education and knowledge by investing in the academics, facilities, support, engagement and vibrant campus life that promote our diverse students’ cognitive growth and academic achievement – all while remaining one of the best values in American higher education.

For more information, please visit the University’s website.

University of Nevada, Reno