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James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo
Department of Chemistry

Job Openings

Requisition 39996

Department Head and Professor of Chemistry

Position Summary

Purdue University invites applications and nominations for the position of Head of the James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry, beginning August 2026. We seek a visionary leader with a distinguished record of scholarly achievement, effective administrative experience, success in securing external research funding, and a strong commitment to teaching excellence and to fostering an inclusive academic community. The successful candidate will hold the rank of Full Professor in Chemistry.

Department Head Responsibilities

  • Provide strategic leadership that sustains existing strengths and promotes new high-impact research initiatives.
  • Recruit, mentor, and retain exceptional faculty in all areas of chemistry.
  • Foster a collegial and inclusive environment that supports the success of faculty, staff, and students.
  • Advance excellence and innovation in graduate and undergraduate education.
  • Oversee departmental budgets, research facilities, and staff operations.
  • Advocate for the department to internal and external stakeholders, including alumni and industry partners, and participate in fundraising efforts.
  • Strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations across Purdue and with industry/external research organizations.

Department Overview

The James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry at Purdue University is internationally recognized for excellence in research, education, and innovation. The department has a long history of scientific leadership, including Nobel Prize winning achievements in organic chemistry and a top-ranked analytical chemistry program. Research strengths span analytical instrumentation, synthetic chemistry and drug discovery, organometallic chemistry and catalysis, quantum information science, chemical biology, and structural biology. The department also has a strong record of entrepreneurship, with drug discovery efforts generating substantial royalties.

Faculty and students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities that include the Jonathan Amy Facility for Chemical Instrumentation, NMR and X-ray Crystallography Facilities, the Research Instrumentation Center, the AI Guided Drug Discovery and Automation Center, the High Throughput Experimentation Catalysis Center, the Center for Autonomous Materials Discovery, and the High Throughput DESI Facility.

Chemistry faculty play leading roles in university-wide initiatives such as Purdue’s Discovery Park, the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, the Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease, and the One Health Initiative.  The Department is also actively involved in the Purdue Lilly 360 initiative, the largest academic- industry partnership in the US.

As of Fall 2025, the Department includes 57 faculty, 70 staff members, 7 lecturers, 62 postdoctoral researchers, 437 graduate students, and 485 undergraduate majors. The Department is a key contributor to the educational mission of Purdue University. In AY24-25, close to 16,500 undergraduate students and 1,750 graduate students were enrolled in CHM courses. Additional information is available at https://www.chem.purdue.edu/.

College of Science Overview

The Department of Chemistry is one of seven departments in the College of Science, which spans the physical sciences, computing, and life sciences. With more than 350 faculty and 6,000 undergraduates, it is Purdue’s second largest college. The College supports major initiatives such as Purdue Computes and One Health, and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration through numerous research centers and institutes. Partnerships with Engineering, Pharmacy, Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and Health and Human Sciences further enrich opportunities for research and education. More information is available at www.science.purdue.edu.

Required Qualifications

Applicants must have

  1. a Ph.D. in Chemistry or a closely related field,
  2. a record of scholarly distinction consistent with appointment as a tenured Full Professor at an AAU institution, and
  3. evidence of effective academic leadership, including administrative experience, program development, faculty mentoring, or strategic planning.

Application Procedure

Review of applications will begin on January 16, 2026, and continue until the position is filled. The expected start date is August 2026.

Applications must be submitted through SuccessFactors https://careers.purdue.edu/job/Department-HeadProfessor-of-Chemistry/39996-en_US/

and should include

  • a cover letter of one to two pages summarizing relevant research, teaching, and leadership experience,
  • a vision statement of up to five pages addressing departmental leadership and plans to advance research, teaching, and professional development,
  • a curriculum vitae, and
  • names and contact information for three references. References will be contacted only for shortlisted candidates.

A background check is required for employment.

Nominations of outstanding candidates are welcome and should be sent to Prof. Julia Laskin, Chair of the Search Committee, at chem-faculty-search@purdue.edu.

Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer.

 

Requisition ID: 39238

Synergistic Faculty Recruitment Initiative in Advanced Chemistry from Science and Engineering to Technology

Purdue University Main Campus | Indianapolis and West Lafayette, IN

Tenure-Track/Tenured Faculty Positions at Assistant and Associate Ranks

Purdue University invites applications for multiple tenured or tenure-track faculty positions as part of a multi-department strategic faculty recruitment initiative in Advanced Chemistry, Science and Engineering. This strategic initiative will help position Purdue as a global leader in clean and sustainable chemistry innovations with the ultimate goal of reshoring the manufacturing of critical chemicals and materials.

Participating departments include: Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, and Agricultural and Biological Engineering.

Areas of Research Focus

We invite applications from scholars working in the following areas, as well as related or emerging fields that complement the cluster’s interdisciplinary goals:

  • Chemical Synthesis, Catalysis, Process Chemistry and Chemistry Enabling Technologies
  • High-throughput Experimentation, Automation, Autonomous Labs, and AI Tools in Chemical Synthesis and Manufacturing
  • Chemical Metrology & Instrumentation
  • Enabling Technologies for Drug Discovery
  • Natural Products, Biocatalysis, Engineered Biosynthetic Pathways, and Bio-derived Feedstocks.

Faculty Responsibilities

  • Establish a vigorous, externally funded research program
  • Contribute to the education and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students
  • Collaborate across disciplines to solve complex global sustainability challenges
  • Translate discoveries into scalable industry practices
  • Candidates are expected to contribute to both undergraduate and graduate teaching. Responsibilities include developing and delivering lecture and/or laboratory courses in their area of expertise, mentoring graduate and undergraduate students in research, and participating in curriculum innovation to advance chemistry at Purdue University.

Strategic Advantages at Purdue

Faculty hired under this initiative will join a vibrant ecosystem of interdisciplinary centers and institutes, including:

  • Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery
  • Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development (CAID)
  • William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for the Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals
  • Dane O. Kildsig Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research (KCPPR)
  • Dauch Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises (DCMME)
  • Lilly and Purdue Research Alliance Center (LPRC)
  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Purdue Institute for Cancer Research
  • Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience (PIIN)
  • Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease (PI4D)
  • Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering (RCHE)

Qualifications

  • A Ph.D. in chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry, or a related discipline by the start of the appointment
  • A record of research excellence and productivity commensurate with rank
  • Demonstrated potential or record of interdisciplinary collaboration and impactful scholarship
  • Commitment to inclusive teaching and mentorship

Application Process

To apply, please submit a cover letter, CV, research statement, and teaching statement. Applicants should arrange for three letters of reference to be e-mailed to advancedchem@purdue.edu. All application material, including the reference letters, will be held in strict confidence.

In the cover letter, please indicate your primary department of interest and any secondary departments of interest.

Review of applications will begin on Nov. 17, 2025 and continue until positions are filled.  Applications should be submitted at:

https://careers.purdue.edu/job/Assistant-Professor-of-Advanced-Chemistry/39238-en_US/

A background check is required for employment in this position.

 James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry at Purdue University is a global leader in cutting-edge research, education, and innovation, renowned for its Nobel Prize-winning advancements in organic chemistry and top-ranked analytical chemistry program. It pioneers transformative work in green synthesis, catalysis, and pharmaceutical applications, contributing to real-world chemical, pharmaceutical and materials development. The department’s entrepreneurial success is underscored by drug discovery initiatives generating hundreds of millions in royalties. State-of-the-art facilities like the AI-Guided Drug Discovery and Automation Center, High Throughput Experimentation Catalysis Center, Center for Autonomous Materials Discovery, and High Throughput DESI Facility leverage artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation to redefine scientific exploration. These resources position Purdue at the forefront of sustainable chemistry, advanced materials, and next-generation pharmaceutical technologies, fostering collaboration across academia and industry to address global challenges.

Purdue’s Davidson School of Chemical Engineering has demonstrated excellence in the development of continuous flow chemistry for pharmaceutical compounds (Nagy, Reklaitis), and sourcing critical materials for defense applications through the Purdue Energetic Research Center (PERC; director: Beaudoin) and for national security interests (rare earth elements: Wang). ChE also has world-class research teams that develop heterogeneous catalysts (Gounder, Hibbitts, Iglesia, Miller, Ribeiro), enzymatic catalysts (Morgan, Ramkrishna) and electrocatalysts (Tackett) for sustainable chemistry, including research through the $55M NSF ERC on Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR; director: Ribeiro). Purdue ChE is also the headquarters for the Purdue Process Safety and Assurance Center (P2SAC; co-directors: Basaran, Mentzer) that performs research focused on process safety improvements in various industries, particularly for reaction chemistries practiced in the pharmaceutical sector, which is heavily represented in P2SAC’s industrial consortium. The School has also launched a new professional MS program on Pharmaceutical Engineering in Indianapolis and West Lafayette, in partnership with Chemistry and other units on campus.

The Department of Biochemistry is recognized for its multidisciplinary collaborations and commitment to scientific excellence. Faculty conduct world-class research in areas spanning structural biology, plant metabolism, molecular genetics, cancer biology, bioenergy, and RNA science, thereby advancing both fundamental discovery and translational applications. Faculty are actively engaged in multiple integrative centers, including the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR), the Purdue Center for Plant Biology (CPB), the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience (PIIN), the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery (PIDD), and the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease (PI4D). State-of-the-art facilities including x-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and mass spectrometry, strong funding from agencies such as NIH and NSF, and robust interdisciplinary ties create ample opportunities for faculty to launch and sustain high-impact programs and mentor students. Core facilities for high-throughput screening, phenotyping, genomics, bioinformatics, microscopy, NMR, X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, flow cytometry, metabolomics, lipidomics, and proteomics are readily available on campus to investigate fundamental and translational questions in biology and medicine. The department resides in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, one of the world’s leading colleges in agricultural, food, life, and natural-resource sciences which is ranked third in the US and fifth in the world in the 2024 QS World University Rankings. Substantial resources for field-based research are also available near campus and across the state.

Purdue’s Department of Agricultural and Biological (ABE) Engineering has demonstrated excellence in the processing of bio-derived feedstocks (Ladisch, Mosier), biocatalysis (Sankaranarayanan), biosensors for biomolecule detection (Verma) and pharmaceutical processing (Ladisch, Ristroph). The Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, housed in the  ABE Building, applies biological engineering and biochemical fundamentals that translate science into technology solutions for renewable energy, bioproducts and health.

Housed in Purdue’s College of Pharmacy, the Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology offers a unique multidisciplinary and collaborative environment with synergistic strengths in molecular pharmacology, neuroscience, cancer biology, immunology/infectious diseases, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, drug design, systems biology, and computational chemistry. Extensive opportunities for collaboration also exist within a vibrant community of scientists in the Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Health and Human Sciences, Science, and Veterinary Medicine. The Department is highly engaged in collaborative research initiatives led by the Life Sciences Institutes, including the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience (PIIN), the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease (PI4D), the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery (PIDD), the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR), and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering (RCHE).

Purdue University is an equal opportunity/equal access university.