Description

— New Faculty Opportunities at the Brown School —

The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis has opened a call for at least two positions: The Masters & Johnson Distinguished Professorship of Sexual Health and Education, and an open-rank faculty position(s) in artificial intelligence, social work, and social policy. Candidates with a Ph.D. in Social Work or allied disciplines will be considered for all positions, and those with a Master of Social Work and at least two years of post-MSW practice experience who can teach social work practice courses in addition to conducting research are particularly desired.

Masters & Johnson Distinguished Professorship in Sexuality Health & Education

The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis is searching for a distinguished scholar for a tenured faculty appointment as the Masters & Johnson Distinguished Professorship of Sexual Health and Education. An outstanding scholar in sexuality and sexual/reproductive health is sought to fill this leadership role at the Brown School. We are particularly interested in highly established mid-career and senior scholars with a strongly established research agenda focused on the intersection of health and well-being in populations made vulnerable by oppression and discrimination, including but not limited to sex workers, people of color, those identifying as LGBTQ, people with disabilities and/or those with direct experience with human trafficking, trauma exposure, and survivors of sexual or gender-based violence. Candidates with a strong commitment to advancing reproductive and human rights through innovative research are eagerly sought. 

Candidates with a Ph.D. in Social Work or allied disciplines will be considered. Candidates with a Master of Social Work and at least two years of post-MSW practice experience are particularly desired. 

To Apply
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled; however, priority will be given to applications received before October 15, 2026. To apply for this position, please submit a CV and brief cover letter at this link. To discuss the position (confidentially) and the benefits of engaging in scholarship at the Brown School, please reach out directly to Paz Galupo, search chair and Audre Lorde Distinguished Professor of Sexual Health and Education (paz@wustl.edu). 

Open-Rank Faculty Positions in Artificial Intelligence, Social Work, & Social Policy: A WashU Office of the Provost Initiative

As part of a university-wide initiative led by the WashU Office of the Provost, the Brown School invites applications from faculty at all ranks, whose research engages or considers the intersection of artificial intelligence and social work or social policy. This university initiative in Artificial Intelligence spans four thematic hiring areas across the university, and we welcome applicants working in any of them whose work is highly aligned with the mission of the Brown School:

• Agentic AI: AI Governance, Society, and Institutions — modeling how AI agents behave at scale in complex social and economic systems, and the legal, regulatory, and institutional structures needed to oversee them, including the reshaping of labor, decision-making, and accountability across firms, markets, and organizations.
• Human Values, Creative Practice, and AI — scholarship and creative practice exploring what it means to be human in a world shaped by generative AI, spanning critical/humanistic and studio-based creative work.
• AI-Driven Imaging Science: Imaging from Molecules to the Universe — foundation models, generative modeling, and inverse problem methods applied across scales, including population health and food security.
• AI for Science and Engineering: Modeling the Physical World — AI and computational methods to model, simulate, and reason about physical systems, from climate and materials to structural biology and astrophysics.

While applications engaging any of these four areas are welcome, the Agentic AI: AI Governance, Society, and Institutions track — with its focus on institutions, accountability, labor, and the social systems that oversee emerging technologies — is likely the closest fit to the Brown School's mission, and we particularly encourage applicants whose work speaks to that intersection. To learn more about this initiative from the WashU Office of the Provost, click here.

While candidates from allied disciplines will be considered, we are particularly interested in candidates with a Master of Social Work and at least two years of post-MSW practice experience who can teach social work practice courses in addition to conducting relevant research. 

To Apply
To apply for this position, click here. Applications will be accepted until positions are filled. For questions about the application process, please contact Paz Galupo, Chair of the Personnel Advisory Committee and Audre Lorde Distinguished Professor of Sexual Health and Education (paz@wustl.edu), or Dean Dorian Traube, Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation Dean of the Brown School (traube@wustl.edu). Interested applicants should send a CV and brief cover letter indicating which AI thematic initiative they are applying to. In addition, applicants should provide a teaching statement, research statement, and contact information for three references.

About the Brown School
The Brown School is a top-ranked school of social work and social policy, consistently rated among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report — most recently holding the No. 2 position among the nation's schools of social work. Faculty who join us will become part of a productive, collegial, and exciting research community committed to social change through the education of graduate students (master's and doctoral) and advanced research. Brown School faculty are widely published and cited, and recognized nationally and internationally for rigorous, evidence-based scholarship aimed at addressing pressing social issues and eliminating health and economic disparities. 

Set within Washington University in St. Louis, new faculty will be encouraged to pursue research and teaching collaborations across the university, including the Schools of Medicine, Business, Law, Art & Architecture, Engineering, Public Health, and Arts & Sciences. New faculty will join a university committed to academic distinction, cutting-edge scholarship, transdisciplinary and community collaboration, and an educational mission aimed at strengthening society.

Top students come to the Brown School from the St. Louis region and from across the nation and globe. Both students and faculty share a commitment to improving individual, family, community, and societal well-being and equity through education and scholarly activity. The school offers dedicated administrative support and leadership in research, faculty affairs, education, student affairs, and library science along with experience pre- and post-award teams that support the school's significant external funding portfolio.

The Brown School has built strong and lasting community partnerships and encourages new partnerships in both educational settings and research and evaluation to help faculty and students engage in research and activities tied to real-world impact. Resources such as the Clark-Fox Policy Institute help faculty translate new knowledge rapidly into action. The Brown School is also proud to be home to the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging and the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies, two endowed centers focused on research and education, as well as multiple active centers and labs, including the Sexuality, Health, & Gender Center; Center for Social Development; Social System Design Lab; Forced Migration Initiative; and more.

Equal Employment Opportunity
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.