The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Virginia Tech invites applications for the position of Department Head.
The Department seeks a visionary leader who can advance its reputation as an international leader in research, scholarship, and education. The Department Head will serve as an integral member of the College of Engineering leadership team, advocating for the department to university administration and external stakeholders, while providing substantive oversight in leading and executing the department’s mission. The successful candidate will be expected to foster excellence in research, education, mentoring, and service; strengthen internal and external partnerships; support innovation and industry connections across all program areas; catalyze growth of our undergraduate and graduate programs; and cultivate the department’s collaborative and supportive culture.
The department is consistently ranked among the top ten CEE programs nationwide and is home to 62 full-time faculty members, with an enrollment of approximately 673 undergraduates, 155 M.S., and 115 Ph.D. students. The CEE faculty and students perform cutting-edge research across the full spectrum of CEE disciplines, with a strong culture of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation; the annual research expenditures exceed $15M. The department’s program areas include Construction Engineering and Management, Environmental Engineering and Water Resources, Geotechnical Engineering, Land Development Design, Structural Engineering and Materials, and Transportation Infrastructure and Systems Engineering. Major research facilities include the Kelso Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory, the Thomas M. Murray Structures and Materials Laboratory, and the W.C. English Geotechnical Laboratory on the Blacksburg campus. CEE also has the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory located in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, with five full-time faculty, five postdoctoral researchers, fifteen graduate students and a large research staff focused on urban watershed management and indirect potable water reuse. Together, these programs and facilities provide students and faculty opportunities to address the most pressing challenges in infrastructure, environment, and society.
Virginia Tech’s main campus is in Blacksburg, VA. The CEE main office is located in Patton Hall, with faculty offices and research labs primarily housed in Patton Hall, Norris Hall, Durham Hall, Hancock Hall, Kelly Hall, ICTAS II, and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). The New River Valley, wherein Blacksburg is located, consistently ranks among the best places to live in the United States and offers an exceptional environment for both professional and personal life.