Job Description

Nutrition & Health Science
Assistant Professor in Public Health
Ball State University

Ball State University welcomes applications for an Assistant Professor in Public Health. We seek candidates with a doctorate in Public Health, Health Policy, Environmental Health, Bioinformatics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, or a related discipline. Candidates should have good interpersonal communication skills and the ability to work cooperatively and congenially. Research areas of interest include but are not limited to chronic diseases, obesity, bioinformatics, and genetics. Experience conducting an intervention or clinical trial is desirable. Research on rural issues and concerns especially related to chronic disease and obesity are desirable. Candidates should be skilled in teaching quantitative research methods and analyses, social and behavioral science, health policy, or other public health topics to students with a range of aptitude. Online teaching experience is desirable.

The tenure line rank will be Assistant Professor. Assistant Professor candidates should have an earned doctorate (e.g., PhD, ScD, DrPH) and have teaching or teaching assistant experience and a beginning track record in scholarship with potential for extramural funding. We seek candidates able to contribute to interdisciplinary team science and be conversant with public health practice. Additionally, an MPH or MS from an accredited School of Public Health is desirable. Faculty are expected to work on campus to engage with students, colleagues, and community.

Destination 2040: Our Flight Path establishes Ball State University’s ambitious goals for our second century:
• We pledge to provide a premier educational experience for every student.
• We pledge to partner with the community to improve the lives of our neighbors.
• We are dedicated to having a lifelong presence in the lives of our alumni.

And when we complement these promises with our commitment to our enduring values, we define that which makes our University and its culture distinctive.

Our faculty are collegial, collaborative, innovative, inclusive, and adaptive, both within and beyond one’s home unit. These attributes include commitments to collaborative discourse, interdisciplinary inquiry, and enterprising learning practices.

Our faculty are expected to be innovative, adaptive, engaging teachers across modalities; producers of impactful creative and/or scholarly work; leaders in meaningful service activities to multiple communities. We seek faculty members who are strategic thinkers, engaging our dynamic communities. We are committed to student and faculty success, impact, and access, within an environment that prioritizes inclusive excellence. We inspire each other to be critical thinkers and responsible citizens, so that we can pursue fulfilling careers and meaningful lives.

Ball State University lives the values of Beneficence. We invite you to be part of our community.

At Ball State University, inclusiveness and freedom of expression are a part of our enduring values and inform all of our efforts. We encourage applicants to familiarize themselves with our Inclusive Excellence Plan to learn more about our commitment and to identify how you might contribute to these efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities: Responsibilities include developing and maintaining an active research program, developing curricula, developing courses, teaching graduate and undergraduate students, mentoring students, and providing service to the university and profession. Faculty may contribute to a graduate health sciences program with a specialization in biostatistics and epidemiology and a health data science concentration of the BS in Data Science in the College of Science and Humanities.

Lifelong learning at Ball State University extends educational engagement beyond the classroom and includes learning for professional development, personal enrichment, or other goals throughout one’s lifetime. Faculty may be expected to participate in the university’s lifelong learning opportunities when available and may be assigned teaching responsibility in this area as part of their overall responsibilities. Other duties may include service to the university, community, and profession and contributions to student recruitment activities.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Doctorate in Public Health, Health Policy, Environmental Health, Bioinformatics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics or a related discipline.
• At least six (6) months of relevant professional experience in public health or related discipline.
• Evidence of ongoing or established scholarship
• Evidence of ability to mentor or have mentored students
• Ability to teach undergraduate and/or graduate students
• Effective oral and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:
• Research in chronic diseases, obesity, bioinformatics, genetics
• Research on rural health issues, especially related to chronic disease and obesity.
• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research
• Existing external funding or potential for external funding
• Experience in curriculum development
• Experience in online teaching
• Demonstrated ability to teach and mentor students from a variety of backgrounds
• Active participation in professional organizations in the discipline
• Ability to promote collegiality in the professional setting
• Experience conducting an intervention or clinical trial.

Employer will consider sponsorship.

To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by 9/15/2025.

Apply online at: https://bsu.peopleadmin.com/postings/48633. Include the following documents with your application: Curriculum Vitae and in support of your application for this position, please prepare and submit a cover letter that describes how your qualifications and experiences align with the elements of the position description (or leadership profile). In your cover letter, please also describe how you have demonstrated a commitment to our University’s enduring values, including inclusiveness, which we define as a commitment ‘to respect and embrace equity, inclusion, and diversity in people, ideas, and opinions.’

The option to upload transcripts is available. Original, official transcripts showing the highest related degree earner is required at the time of hire (even if obtained at BSU). Degree verification will be conducted.

Ball State is a great place to work! In fact, Forbes has ranked Ball State University as the fourth-best midsized employer—and the only recognized education institution—in the State of Indiana

Ball State University is located in Muncie, Indiana, on an attractive campus 45 miles northeast of Indianapolis. Approximately 20,000 graduate and undergraduate students enroll in one of eight academic colleges that offer 270+ undergraduate and graduate programs. Many of our master’s, doctoral, certificate, and specialist degrees rank among the best in the nation. We engage students in educational, research, and creative endeavors that empower our graduates to have fulfilling careers and meaningful lives enriched by lifelong learning and service, while we enhance the economic, environmental, and social vitality of our community, our state, and our world.

The Ball State way is rooted in the Beneficence Pledge – a commitment to excellence in teaching and scholarship, honesty and integrity, social responsibility, gratitude and valuing the intrinsic worth of each member of our community. Ball State students, faculty and staff are empowered in a culture that believes in them and demands they believe in themselves. They are partners in an innovative, immersive approach to education. They are supported by living and learning facilities that enable intellectual curiosity. We graduate scholars who are changing the world, and we’ve dedicated our University to do the same.

Ball State University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, genetic information, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, protected veteran status, or any legally protected status.


At Ball State University, we recognize inclusive excellence as an integral endeavor to fulfill our University’s mission and our strategic plan. We recruit, support, and retain a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff. We encourage and reward diversity of thought. We promote a work environment that encourages and rewards innovation and creativity. We pledge to keep Inclusive Excellence at the highest level of institutional importance and as a foundation in all that we strive to do. Our over-arching goal for Inclusive Excellence is to adopt a university-wide Inclusive Excellence approach to academic, administrative support, and service functions of the university. We believe Inclusive Excellence must be infused in every step we take.