The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University seeks an experienced health communicator to teach undergraduate and graduate students and launch the Health Communication Accelerator. Generously supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Health Communication Accelerator activates pilots and generates communication insights on major public health disparities. Partnering with healthcare providers, nonprofits, public health agencies and community organizations, the student-powered Accelerator researches audiences and tests how health messages affect understanding, trust, engagement and behavioral intent; those insights become evidence-based communication strategies, campaigns and practical resources that partners can use to communicate more effectively with the communities they serve.
This role combines creativity, leadership, mentorship and teaching, ensuring students develop professional-level skills and experience in health-focused strategic communication. Success in this role is measured by the success of students, and their ability to develop and apply their knowledge and skills to drive meaningful media careers; it is also measured by the leader’s ability to launch, steer and fortify the Health Communication Accelerator.
The successful candidate will be a health communicator of the highest caliber and a student-first instructor inspired by the future of media. The candidate demonstrates a commitment to principled work; champions public health; possesses the skills to inspire, support and instruct a team of student communicators; and instinctively delivers clear direction and feedback.
As a member of the faculty, the professor will have teaching and service responsibilities within the Cronkite School. In this role, there are no research or creative activity responsibilities.
This is a full-time, benefits-eligible, grant-funded, 12-month appointment. This is a non-tenure-track appointment. The professor will hold the rank of assistant, associate or full teaching professor, or assistant, associate or full clinical professor.
This position is located on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus and requires physical presence at that location.
Generously supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Health Communication Accelerator is an expert-led communication insight engine working complex public health challenges through strategic communication. Working in collaboration with the Cronkite Agency and alongside healthcare providers, nonprofit organizations, public health agencies and community partners, interdisciplinary student teams conduct audience research, test messages and develop campaigns, tools and recommendations that improve communication around critical health issues and disparities. Each year, the Accelerator focuses on a high-impact challenge, producing practical deliverables and evidence-based insights that support stronger public health communication in Arizona and beyond.
Strategic Communication students at the Cronkite School gain advanced skills across PR, digital marketing, brand content creation, audience measurement and more in hands-on, applied coursework. In the school’s signature capstone experience, the Cronkite Agency, students deliver real services for real clients, creating professional-level impact well before graduation. Programs include undergraduate and graduate degrees in strategic communication, digital strategy and audience engagement, sports strategic communication, science communication and content creation.
The Cronkite School is widely recognized as the nation’s premier mass communication school. Rooted in the time-honored values that characterize its namesake—accuracy, responsibility, integrity—the school fosters excellence and ethics among students as they master the professional skills required to succeed in the media world of today and tomorrow.
Based on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus in the heart of the nation’s fifth-largest city, the School is known for its hands-on “teaching hospital” approach to learning led by a faculty composed of Pulitzer Prize-winning professional journalists, strategic communication leaders and world-class media scholars. More than 2,500 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students regularly lead the country in national competitions as they prepare for careers in journalism, PR, marketing, strategic media and related communication fields.
Arizona State University, ranked the No. 1 “Most Innovative School” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 10 years in succession, has forged the model for a New American University. Repeatedly ranked No. 1, ASU has topped more than 20 lists in the last three years: No. 1 in the U.S. for global impact (Times Higher Education) and No. 1 in the U.S. for sustainable practices (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education). ASU is a comprehensive public research institution, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves. ASU operates on the principles that learning is a personal and original journey for each student; that they thrive on experience and that the process of discovery cannot be bound by traditional academic disciplines. Through innovation and a commitment to accessibility, ASU has drawn pioneering researchers to its faculty even as it expands opportunities for qualified students, attracting some of the highest-quality students from all 50 states and more than 130 nations.
Applicants will be asked to create or use an existing Interfolio Dossier to submit the following:
Successful candidates will demonstrate throughout their materials how their teaching, research, and service will contribute to the fulfillment of the ASU Charter.
The applicant’s name should appear in each uploaded file name. Cover letters may be addressed to the Search Committee Chair, senior associate dean Jessica Pucci. Questions about the position should be directed to the search committee chair at: jepucci@asu.edu.
Application deadline is November 10, 2026. Applications will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis for a reserve pool. Applications in the reserve pool may then be reviewed in the order in which they were received until the position is filled.
A background check is required for employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.
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