Shashi Shekhar is a leading scholar of spatial computing, spatial data science, GeoAI and geographic information systems (GIS). His contributions include scalable algorithms for eco-routing; evacuation route planning and spatial pattern mining; and an encyclopedia of GIS, spatial databases textbook, and spatial computing book for professionals.
Shekhar is a McKnight Distinguished University Professor, a Distinguished University Teaching Professor, and an ADC Chair at the University of Minnesota. Currently, he is serving as the director of the National AI Research Institute for Land, Economy, Agriculture & Forestry, which explores the intersection of AI, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable forestry. He also serves as lead of the climate and sustainability group of the Computing Research Association (CRA) workgroup on socially responsible computing, a co-editor-in-chief of the Geo-Informatica journal (Springer), and an associate director of his college's Data Science Initiative. He presented at a Congressional reception in 2015 and co-chaired two SIAM Data Mining conferences in 2023 and 2024 and the CRA Snowbird conference in 2022. He also served as the president of the University Consortium for GIS (UCGIS).
Shekhar also served as a member of many National Academies' committees and the CRA board. His recognitions include the IEEE-CS Technical Achievement Award, the UCGIS Education Award, IEEE fellow and AAAS fellow, and the CTS Research Partnership Award for significant impact on transportation. He was also named a key difference-maker for the field of GIS by the most popular GIS textbook.
Shekhar’s publications include over 400 refereed papers. Many of Shashi's 100 advisees are serving in leadership positions and have received prestigious recognitions such as the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers and NSF CAREER.