What are the responsibilities and job description for the Temporary Assistant Professor position at Design Observer?
The Department of Product Design at the University of Kentucky is currently accepting applications for a Temporary Assistant Professor (non-tenure-eligible) for the 2026-2027 academic year. We are seeking individuals who are passionate about design education and the critical role educators play in equipping students for careers across the spectrum of product design practice. This position is open to a wide range of backgrounds and experiences in the product design field and, while preferred, teaching experience in higher education is not required. This position is a full-time 9-month appointment with an anticipated start date of August 1, 2026, and an appointment period of one year to end May 15, 2027.
Job Summary
This position supports the educational mission of the Product Design program, focusing on quality instruction across studio, lecture, and/or workshop courses in our newly revised undergraduate curriculum. Applicants should have a strong understanding of human-centered design processes as applied to the development and delivery of physical and/or digital products, systems, or services. Ideal candidates should be qualified and able to teach at any level of our four-year undergraduate program and contribute to multiple courses within the curriculum’s course series: Studios (hands-on, applied projects), Means of Communication (drawing, visualization, graphics), Means of Production (CAD, materials, prototyping, UX/UI), and Design Contexts (history, ethics, professional practice); opportunities to offer special topic electives courses also exist in this role. This is a teaching position with no expectation of research; however, the selected candidate will contribute to service activities of the Department of Product Design.
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue as needed until a pool of qualified candidates is established or the position is filled. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Adam Feld, Chair of the Department of Product Design or Jennie Boyd, Faculty Resource Manager: jennie.boyd@uky.edu.
For more information about the Department of Product Design, the College of Design, and the University of Kentucky, please visit: https://design.uky.edu
Skills/Knowledge/Abilities And Required Related Experience
Candidates of interest will have the following qualifications:
Launched in 2020, the Department of Product Design offers a Bachelor of Science in Product Design and, following a recent curriculum revision, a new Minor in Product Design, programs which balance technical and conceptual instruction across physical and digital product development. Housed in the College of Design, the Department of Product Design contributes to critical examinations of the built environment, specifically designing the props for our lives: the tools, interfaces, and services that humans leverage to meet their goals across the expanse of traditional and emerging professions. The department has 50 majors and serves an additional 40 students annually through collaborative courses offered to Biomedical Engineering students and courses that satisfy UK’s Core requirements. The faculty in Product Design represent a wide spectrum of design experience and pedagogical perspectives, exemplifying a commitment to diversity of design practice pathways and modeling for students inclusive and collaborative approaches to career success.
In its short history, the department has aimed to link design education to real-world applications in our local region, working with partners in aviation, personal protective equipment, medical device development, the distilling industry, and humanitarian and disaster relief providers. The Product Design Department has close ties with the University of Kentucky’s UK Innovate initiative, linking campus expertise with local and national industry needs.
The Product Design curriculum aims to provide instruction in foundational concepts, introductory and advanced skills, and methods and frameworks that can be applied to the worlds of physical product design and digital product design. These goals are supported by four thematic areas within the curriculum — Means of Communication, Means of Production, Design Contexts, and Design Studios — with each containing a series of courses devoted to skill- and mind set advancement. Several courses in the Product Design curriculum also satisfy UK Core Education requirements in three areas (Humanities, Global Dynamics, and Natural Sciences), expanding awareness of the design profession to all interested students on campus.
The curriculum intentionally makes space for students to take advantage of studying at a Research-1 institution, with time in their schedules to pursue a minor to support their design development. Additionally, the junior year includes a dedicated semester for participating in internships, study abroad (utilizing UK’s extensive network of partner institutions), or other opportunities away from campus. These off-campus experiences roll up into the senior thesis project which spans two semesters, allowing for deep research and design refinement during their final, self-driven project.
The department also offers a Minor in Product Design and includes 19 credit hours of Product Design courses from history and ethics to basic skills and ending with a collaborative, project-based studio experience.
About The College Of Design
The University of Kentucky College of Design is a vibrant academic community and a dynamic hub for regional, national, and global conversations about design. Shaped by the distinctive character of our region, the breadth of our disciplines, and the various backgrounds of our students, faculty, and staff, we are supported by the resources and infrastructure of a leading Research-1, land-grant university.
We value design as a human-centered, inherently optimistic activity and embrace the unique strengths of our disciplines while collaborating in a transdisciplinary environment. Our programs balance theoretical foundations, conceptual design thinking, technical understanding, and the act of making as crucial elements of an iterative process leading to impactful design. Learning, teaching, and research in the College of Design explore the interconnected relationships between human experience, built and natural environments, and designed objects and systems. Our areas of research specialization include history, theory, and criticism; digital fabrication and simulation; materials innovation; community resiliency; sustainability and preservation; and design for health and well-being.
The College of Design’s new home, the Gray Design Building, is 100,000 square feet of open studio space, state-of-the-art fabrication lab facilities, classrooms, offices and event spaces — a place where students of architecture, interiors, historic preservation, product design, and landscape architecture — can all learn and work together in a modern, cross-disciplinary environment. Built in 1917 and situated at one of the most prominent entries into the city of Lexington, the former tobacco warehouse has been transformed into an open, dynamic space that encourages interaction and collaboration between students and faculty of various disciplines. The Gray Design Building was more than a renovation project — it serves as a prime example of adaptive reuse and sustainable building practices, symbolizing a bridge between the building's industrial past and its innovative future as a hub for design education. This transformative renovation was completed in 2024, with the College moving into its new home in Spring of 2024.
University Community
The University follows both the federal and state Constitutions as well as all applicable federal and state laws on nondiscrimination. The University provides equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, social or economic status or whether the person is a smoker or nonsmoker, as long as the person complies with University regulation concerning smoking.
Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.
Employment at UK is subject to fund availability and comes with diverse rewards, focusing on your total well-being and career development, with leadership striving to provide a strong work-life integration. The university generously contributes to employees’ retirement plans, medical coverage, and life insurance. In addition, UK offers optional benefits such as dental and vision insurance, additional retirement plans and much more. To learn more about these benefits, please visit: https://hr.uky.edu/employment/our-benefits.
Job Summary
This position supports the educational mission of the Product Design program, focusing on quality instruction across studio, lecture, and/or workshop courses in our newly revised undergraduate curriculum. Applicants should have a strong understanding of human-centered design processes as applied to the development and delivery of physical and/or digital products, systems, or services. Ideal candidates should be qualified and able to teach at any level of our four-year undergraduate program and contribute to multiple courses within the curriculum’s course series: Studios (hands-on, applied projects), Means of Communication (drawing, visualization, graphics), Means of Production (CAD, materials, prototyping, UX/UI), and Design Contexts (history, ethics, professional practice); opportunities to offer special topic electives courses also exist in this role. This is a teaching position with no expectation of research; however, the selected candidate will contribute to service activities of the Department of Product Design.
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue as needed until a pool of qualified candidates is established or the position is filled. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Adam Feld, Chair of the Department of Product Design or Jennie Boyd, Faculty Resource Manager: jennie.boyd@uky.edu.
For more information about the Department of Product Design, the College of Design, and the University of Kentucky, please visit: https://design.uky.edu
Skills/Knowledge/Abilities And Required Related Experience
Candidates of interest will have the following qualifications:
- A professional or terminal degree in product design or related field (BS, BID, BA, MS, MDes, etc.). Outstanding professional work and experience may be considered as a substitution for a terminal degree.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of students, faculty, staff, and other members of the educational environment.
- Strong understanding and application of design process within or across a range of industries.
Launched in 2020, the Department of Product Design offers a Bachelor of Science in Product Design and, following a recent curriculum revision, a new Minor in Product Design, programs which balance technical and conceptual instruction across physical and digital product development. Housed in the College of Design, the Department of Product Design contributes to critical examinations of the built environment, specifically designing the props for our lives: the tools, interfaces, and services that humans leverage to meet their goals across the expanse of traditional and emerging professions. The department has 50 majors and serves an additional 40 students annually through collaborative courses offered to Biomedical Engineering students and courses that satisfy UK’s Core requirements. The faculty in Product Design represent a wide spectrum of design experience and pedagogical perspectives, exemplifying a commitment to diversity of design practice pathways and modeling for students inclusive and collaborative approaches to career success.
In its short history, the department has aimed to link design education to real-world applications in our local region, working with partners in aviation, personal protective equipment, medical device development, the distilling industry, and humanitarian and disaster relief providers. The Product Design Department has close ties with the University of Kentucky’s UK Innovate initiative, linking campus expertise with local and national industry needs.
The Product Design curriculum aims to provide instruction in foundational concepts, introductory and advanced skills, and methods and frameworks that can be applied to the worlds of physical product design and digital product design. These goals are supported by four thematic areas within the curriculum — Means of Communication, Means of Production, Design Contexts, and Design Studios — with each containing a series of courses devoted to skill- and mind set advancement. Several courses in the Product Design curriculum also satisfy UK Core Education requirements in three areas (Humanities, Global Dynamics, and Natural Sciences), expanding awareness of the design profession to all interested students on campus.
The curriculum intentionally makes space for students to take advantage of studying at a Research-1 institution, with time in their schedules to pursue a minor to support their design development. Additionally, the junior year includes a dedicated semester for participating in internships, study abroad (utilizing UK’s extensive network of partner institutions), or other opportunities away from campus. These off-campus experiences roll up into the senior thesis project which spans two semesters, allowing for deep research and design refinement during their final, self-driven project.
The department also offers a Minor in Product Design and includes 19 credit hours of Product Design courses from history and ethics to basic skills and ending with a collaborative, project-based studio experience.
About The College Of Design
The University of Kentucky College of Design is a vibrant academic community and a dynamic hub for regional, national, and global conversations about design. Shaped by the distinctive character of our region, the breadth of our disciplines, and the various backgrounds of our students, faculty, and staff, we are supported by the resources and infrastructure of a leading Research-1, land-grant university.
We value design as a human-centered, inherently optimistic activity and embrace the unique strengths of our disciplines while collaborating in a transdisciplinary environment. Our programs balance theoretical foundations, conceptual design thinking, technical understanding, and the act of making as crucial elements of an iterative process leading to impactful design. Learning, teaching, and research in the College of Design explore the interconnected relationships between human experience, built and natural environments, and designed objects and systems. Our areas of research specialization include history, theory, and criticism; digital fabrication and simulation; materials innovation; community resiliency; sustainability and preservation; and design for health and well-being.
The College of Design’s new home, the Gray Design Building, is 100,000 square feet of open studio space, state-of-the-art fabrication lab facilities, classrooms, offices and event spaces — a place where students of architecture, interiors, historic preservation, product design, and landscape architecture — can all learn and work together in a modern, cross-disciplinary environment. Built in 1917 and situated at one of the most prominent entries into the city of Lexington, the former tobacco warehouse has been transformed into an open, dynamic space that encourages interaction and collaboration between students and faculty of various disciplines. The Gray Design Building was more than a renovation project — it serves as a prime example of adaptive reuse and sustainable building practices, symbolizing a bridge between the building's industrial past and its innovative future as a hub for design education. This transformative renovation was completed in 2024, with the College moving into its new home in Spring of 2024.
University Community
The University follows both the federal and state Constitutions as well as all applicable federal and state laws on nondiscrimination. The University provides equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, social or economic status or whether the person is a smoker or nonsmoker, as long as the person complies with University regulation concerning smoking.
Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.
Employment at UK is subject to fund availability and comes with diverse rewards, focusing on your total well-being and career development, with leadership striving to provide a strong work-life integration. The university generously contributes to employees’ retirement plans, medical coverage, and life insurance. In addition, UK offers optional benefits such as dental and vision insurance, additional retirement plans and much more. To learn more about these benefits, please visit: https://hr.uky.edu/employment/our-benefits.