Art and Wellness Enterprises (AWE) is a professional services organization supporting non-profits founded by Alice Walton, including the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Art Bridges Foundation, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Momentary, and Heartland Whole Health Institute.
Job Description:
Job Title: Postdoctoral Scholar
Reports to: Provost and Chief Academic Officer (day-to-day guidance from an assigned faculty mentor)
FLSA Classification: Exempt
Location: Bentonville, Arkansas (On-site)
About Bentonville Institute of Technology
Bentonville Institute of Technology (BIT) is a new higher education institution being developed in Bentonville, Arkansas to advance new models of STEM education and workforce development. The university is designed to deliver a flexible, experiential educational model that combines rigorous STEM instruction with an entrepreneurial and business-infused mindset.
The institution will focus on areas such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, mobility, health technology, energy systems, and entrepreneurship. Through strong partnerships with industry and regional organizations, the University aims to prepare students with practical, high-demand skills needed for the evolving knowledge economy.
The university will develop a distinctive educational model based on experiential learning, stackable credentials, flexible entry and exit pathways, and strong industry engagement. The University plans to enroll its first undergraduate class in 2029 and establish a new national model for innovative STEM higher education. Additional information about the university’s founding vision can be found here: https://www.bentonvilleinstituteoftechnology.org/
Initially, faculty and staff will be hired by Art and Wellness Enterprises and immersed in a broader ecosystem on the Crystal Bridges Campus for Art and Wellness, providing shared operational services and subject matter expertise, in close proximity to the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM).
Founding Context
BIT is being built without legacy departments or an inherited curriculum. The working academic model is a three-year, 120-credit baccalaureate with a substantial shared academic foundation and four concentration areas – Mobility Systems, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Health Systems, and Energy Systems – developed within a shared academic identity rather than as departmental silos.
BIT is planning toward an inaugural undergraduate class in Fall 2029. Postdoctoral scholars join in early 2027, while courses, studios, laboratories, policies, and organizational structures are still being designed, and help shape how technical depth, projects, AI, business, entrepreneurship, human-centered design, communication, and systems thinking come together in one coherent student journey.
BIT’s graduates are meant to become Builders of Intelligent Systems – people who integrate technical knowledge, AI and data, human-centered design, systems thinking, business and entrepreneurship, communication, teamwork, and real-world implementation.
BIT is pre-accreditation and pre–Title IV. Accreditation eligibility filing preparation runs fiscal years 2027–2028, with candidacy targeted before the founding undergraduate cohort enrolls in Fall 2029. Curriculum maps, assessment designs, and evidence of learning developed by postdoctoral scholars feed directly into institutional approval and accreditation readiness.
BIT is an artificial intelligence (AI)-native institution – AI is woven into how the institution teaches, operates, and serves students. Postdoctoral scholars are expected to use AI tools fluently in teaching, curriculum development, and scholarship, and to help students build sound judgment about using AI in technical work.
About The Position
The Postdoctoral Scholar is a full-time, fixed-term developmental appointment for emerging scholars and practitioners who want to grow as educators, applied researchers, and…