Shashi Shekhar

Shashi Shekhar is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Distinguished University Teaching Professor at the University of Minnesota. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (College of Science and Engineering) and the Center for Transportation Studies. His pioneering research in spatial computing and GIS has revolutionized navigation technologies and evacuation planning.

Research Focus: His work spans spatial data science, spatial databases, and spatial data mining. Current projects include scalable algorithms for spatial big data, eco-routing to reduce emissions, and AI for climate-smart agriculture. His innovations in pattern families (colocation, hotspots) have defined the spatial data mining field.

Honors & Recognition:

• IEEE Fellow and AAAS Fellow
• IEEE-CS Technical Achievement Award
• UCGIS Education Award
• Distinguished Teaching Professorship
• Named 'key difference-maker in GIS' by leading textbooks

Academic Leadership: Advised 100+ students, including 32 PhD graduates. Many advisees received Presidential Early Career Awards and NSF CAREER grants. Directs the Spatial Computing Research Group and the $20M AI-LEAF Institute for climate-smart agriculture.

Major Grants: Secured $20M for AI-LEAF Institute, $2.5M for urban quality-of-life projects, and NSF funding for polar-region data science. Recent work analyzes COVID-19 impacts on transportation.