Position Description
The Department of Design at San José State University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Graphic Design, beginning in Fall 2026. This is a nine-month, academic-year appointment. We seek an innovative designer and scholar whose research, creative practice, and teaching engage with two or more of the following areas: design fundamentals, systems design, social design, critical and/or speculative design, computational approaches to design, and the integration of emerging technologies into design practice. Candidates should be prepared to teach design fundamentals and emerging tools for design processes—including Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative design, and data-driven creativity—primarily at the undergraduate level. Research related to emerging visualization technologies is highly desirable, and industry or consulting experience is welcomed.

The Department of Design is committed to design, research, and scholarship at the highest level. The department is centered around creative technologies and we are looking for faculty who are seeking to use technology in adaptive, inclusive, poetic, collaborative, and experimental ways. We are also socially responsible, we strive to make design accessible and equitable, and we have a culturally engaged vision of design across our programs. The department offers four professional degrees and is organized around five discipline groups: Interior Design, Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Graphic Design, and Animation. Our faculty includes designers, architects, artists, and historians committed to excellence and collaboration extensively across the Department, College, University, Silicon Valley, and beyond.

The Department of Design and San José State University value inclusive excellence and are committed to advancing equity through research, teaching, and service. We enroll nearly 40,000 students, many of whom are historically underserved; approximately 45% of our undergraduate students are first-generation college students and 38% are Pell Grant recipients. In addition, we are both a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI). SJSU aspires to create holistic learning environments that facilitate both individual and collective transformation. We seek teacher-scholars who cultivate inclusive, empowering spaces for mutual learning, skill-building, and knowledge exchange for all students. Our commitment to lifelong learning supports meaningful connections among faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the broader communities we serve.

We invite all applicants to include a Statement of Inclusive Excellence (or incorporate it into your cover letter) to share how your lived and professional experiences will contribute to the SJSU community—particularly in relation to student success and inclusive education.