Associate/Full Professor of Kinesiology (Open-Rank)

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Department: Col of Ed and Human Development

Classification: 9-month Instructional Faculty

Job Category: Instructional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: N/A - I/R Faculty

Location: Manassas, VA

Workplace Type: On Site Required

Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

George Mason University, Virginia's largest public university and a Carnegie R1 institution, invites applications for three tenure-line faculty positions in Kinesiology. The positions are housed in the newly created Department of Kinesiology, Sport, and Hospitality Management, which launched in 2026. The department brings together five disciplines under one academic home: kinesiology, athletic training, sport management, recreation management, and hospitality management. Its shared mission is to optimize human and organizational performance in service to greater well-being.

These positions represent a deliberate, strategic investment in Kinesiology. The faculty hired will form the research core of the program in its new department. They will have a rare opportunity to shape the research agenda and doctoral training for Kinesiology, and help define the strategic direction of the department.

The Kinesiology Program offers degrees at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels, including a CAAHEP-accredited curriculum. Students complete clinical, sport performance, and allied health internships, and graduates go on to careers as exercise physiologists, sport scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, health and wellness professionals, and researchers. Faculty will work in the new Life Sciences and Engineering building on Mason's Science and Technology Campus in Prince William County. The building has dedicated research laboratories and purpose-built teaching labs. The campus is a key partner in Northern Virginia's first Innovation District, Nexus234 Innovation District which places faculty alongside partners in life sciences, biotechnology, engineering, and advanced technology. Mason's location in the National Capital Region puts faculty within easy reach of the NIH, the Department of Defense, the VA, NIOSH, and other federal funders. The region is also home to military, first-responder, clinical, and industry partners, which makes it well suited to translational research with special populations.

About the Position:

We seek three scholars whose research advances the exercise-body-brain axis. This research examines how physical activity and nutritional interventions drive interrelated metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurocognitive adaptations that optimize health span and performance across the lifespan in human populations, with or without disease.

We anticipate hiring two faculty at the associate or full professor rank and one at the assistant professor rank. Each position will be filled by a candidate whose primary emphasis is in either exercise physiology or neuroscience. We especially welcome candidates whose work bridges the two, for example through neuromechanics.

Areas of particular interest include:

• metabolic health and lean-mass preservation;
• exercise and oncology;
• exercise-induced neuroprotection, cognitive decline, and dementia; and
• health and performance optimization across the age spectrum

Successful candidates will build independent, extramurally funded research programs. They will also collaborate across the department, the university, and with partners in the Innovation District, including on multi-investigator grant proposals to sponsors such as NIH, NSF, DoD, and the VA.

Responsibilities:

Teaching

• Teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in exercise physiology or neuroscience, aligned with program needs, including courses in neuromechanics or neurophysiology where they match the faculty member's expertise; and
• Develops and delivers high-quality, research-informed instruction, and contributes to curriculum development as the program evolves within the new department.

Scholarship

• Conducts and disseminates original, translational, human-subjects research. Seeks, secures, and maintains external funding as principal or co-principal investigator, including collaborative, multi-investigator proposals. Recruits, mentors, and chairs master's and doctoral students' research, theses, and dissertations; and
• Maintains an active national and international scholarly profile. Senior faculty are expected to build and lead research teams and to provide research leadership for the program.

Service

• Provides service to the program, department, college, university, and profession. This includes supporting accreditation, helping shape the strategic direction of the new department, developing community, industry, and applied research partnerships, and participating in relevant professional organizations.

Required Qualifications:

All candidates

• Earned doctorate in kinesiology, exercise science, neuroscience, or a relevant field;
• Primary research expertise in exercise physiology or neuroscience as applied to exercise, physical activity, or nutrition in human subjects;
• Expertise in designing and conducting translational, human-subjects research addressing metabolic, cardiovascular, neurocognitive, or neuromuscular outcomes;
• Ability to collaborate productively across disciplines and with internal and external partners; and
• Teaching or instructional experience.

Assistant Professor

• Demonstrated potential for an independent, extramurally funded research program;
• An emerging record of peer-reviewed publication and presentation; and
• Demonstrated potential for effective teaching and graduate mentorship.

Associate or Full Professor

• A strong record of peer-reviewed scholarship, with national and/or international visibility;
• A sustained record of external research funding;
• Considerable (Associate) or significant (Full) experience building and leading research teams and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses; and
• A strong record of graduate research mentorship, including doctoral mentorship as primary advisor for applicants at the Full Professor rank.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Research that bridges exercise physiology and neuroscience, such as neurophysiology or neuromechanics;
• Experience with exercise physiology assessment methods (e.g., metabolic testing, VO2 assessment), neuromechanical methods (e.g., motion capture, EMG, inertial measurement, strength testing), or neuroscience and neurophysiological methods (e.g., EEG, fNIRS, MRI/fMRI, TMS, wearable neurocognitive monitoring, biomarker assays);
• Interdisciplinary collaborations spanning kinesiology, neuroscience, medicine, engineering, or related fields, including partnerships with industry, clinical, or government organizations;
• Experience translating research findings into applied protocols across the age spectrum;
• Postdoctoral research training (Assistant Professor applicants); and
• Graduate-level teaching experience.

Instructions to Applicants:

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Associate/Full Professor of Kinesiology (Open-Rank) at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information.Complete and submit the online application, including: a cover letter identifying the rank sought and the applicant's primary area (exercise physiology or neuroscience), and describing how their research would contribute to the exercise-body-brain axis and to collaboration across the department, university, and external partners; a current CV; a research statement of no more than two pages, highlighting trajectory, publications, funding, and future goals.

Questions may be directed to Dr. Debra Stroiney at dstroine@gmu.edu

Posting Open Date: November 6, 2026

Full Consideration Date: December 7, 2026

Open Until Filled: Yes