Professor and Chair, Department of Marketing

The Opportunity

The University of Central Florida’s (UCF) College of Business Administration invites applications for a 9-month, tenured professor and chair in the Department of Marketing. This position is located on the UCF main campus with an anticipated start date in Fall 2027.

The chair of the Department of Marketing will serve as a central leader in advancing the department’s academic, research, and external engagement missions during a period of significant institutional momentum and investment.

Consistent with UCF’s identity as Florida’s technological university, the College of Business is expanding its focus on technology-enabled business transformation, industry engagement, and applied research while remaining deeply committed to student success and academic excellence. The college is entering a period of significant strategic investment and institutional momentum following a transformative $50 million philanthropic commitment from entrepreneur and investor Barry S. Miller. This investment includes the creation of five $2 million endowed chairs intended to attract nationally recognized scholars working at the intersection of business, technology, markets, and organizational transformation. Together, these investments signal a long-term institutional commitment to building nationally prominent programs, expanding research capacity, strengthening industry partnerships, and positioning the college as a leader in preparing students and organizations to thrive in an economy increasingly shaped by data, automation, artificial intelligence, and technological change.

As a member of the college leadership team, the chair will work collaboratively with faculty, college leadership, alumni, and industry partners to guide the department’s strategic direction, strengthen its national visibility, and expand its impact in research, education, and industry engagement.

The chair is expected to support and elevate the department’s full range of scholarly strengths while helping position the department at the forefront of understanding how technology is transforming markets, organizations, and consumer experiences.

The successful candidate will foster a collaborative and research-active environment that supports faculty development, intellectual diversity, and innovation across teaching, scholarship, and external engagement. The chair will also play a key role in strengthening relationships with industry and integrating those relationships into both the student experience and faculty research activity in ways that enhance career readiness, organizational relevance, and scholarly impact.

The chair will work closely with an associate chair who supports academic programs and departmental operations, enabling shared leadership and effective management of the department’s activities.

Chair Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide strategic leadership aligned with the department’s mission and priorities.

• Support faculty research productivity across diverse methodological traditions.

• Oversee academic programs and curriculum innovation.

• Support and strengthen the department’s doctoral program and contribute to the continued development of graduate and executive education offerings, including MBA programs.

• Lead faculty hiring, mentoring, and evaluation processes.

• Build and sustain relationships with industry, alumni, and external stakeholders.

• Promote student success and career readiness.

• Engage in fundraising and development activities in collaboration with the college.

• Represent the department within the college, university, and broader academic and professional communities.

The department has articulated a clear strategic direction centered on understanding how emerging technologies are reshaping markets, consumer behavior, business strategy, and societal outcomes. Building on existing strengths across consumer behavior, quantitative modeling, marketing strategy, and professional selling, the department seeks to become a recognized leader in technology-informed marketing research and education.

To support this direction, the department is actively pursuing several strategic initiatives, including:

• Development of a Technology and Markets Living Lab integrating research, teaching, and industry collaboration.

• Creation of a Marketing Insights Collaborative to enhance research productivity and visibility.

• Establishment of a Sales Center supporting the department’s nationally ranked Professional Selling Program.

• Launch of Professional MBA concentrations in Supply Chain and Digital Marketing.

• Expansion of corporate partnerships, speaker series, and conference initiatives.

• Progress toward becoming a named and endowed Department of Marketing.

The department values methodological and theoretical diversity and seeks to support excellence across behavioral, quantitative, and strategy-oriented scholarships. Faculty members are encouraged to engage collaboratively across disciplinary perspectives while contributing to the department’s growing focus on technology-enabled market transformation.

The department offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs, including a Ph.D. in marketing, and plays an active role in the college’s professional and executive MBA programs. These programs provide opportunities for engagement in doctoral education, executive development, and industry-facing teaching while contributing to the department’s visibility and impact.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Marketing or a closely related field from an AACSB-accredited institution at the time of application.

• To be eligible for appointment as a tenured professor upon hire, the selected candidate must have a demonstrated record teaching, research, and service commensurate with a tenured faculty appointment at the rank of professor.

• Demonstrated academic administrative leadership experience (e.g., department chair, associate chair, program director, center director, or comparable role).

• Evidence of scholarly contributions in marketing or related fields.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to lead and support a research-active, multidisciplinary environment.

• Demonstrated ability to support and respect diverse research traditions, including behavioral, quantitative, and strategy-oriented scholarship.

• Record of effective leadership in complex academic environments, including faculty development, program oversight, and external engagement.

• Interest in or engagement with research related to technology-driven marketing contexts.

• Experience fostering collaboration across faculty with varied methodological approaches.

• Demonstrated success in faculty development and mentoring.

• Experience building partnerships with industry and external stakeholders.

• Evidence of involvement in program development or innovation.

• Experience with fundraising, corporate engagement, or development initiatives.

• Leadership roles in academic or professional organizations.