Four CSE Faculty named University of Minnesota Land Grant Professors

Awards recognize early-career researchers’ potential for significant impact.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (04/09/2026)— Four College of Science and Engineering faculty members are among 18 recipients of the 2026 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, an award given to early career faculty who have the potential to make big impacts in their fields. 

Recipients are chosen based on merit, professional promise, quality of publication record, and originality and innovation in research achievements. They hold the designation of “McKnight Land-Grant Professor” for a two-year period and receive a research grant of $25,000 in each year of that appointment.

2026 CSE McKnight Land Grant Professors

Chris Bartel

Chris Bartel is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. The Bartel group is working to discover new materials that are more efficient, more affordable and more sustainably sourced. Their research applies computational methods that resolve the properties of materials at the atomic scale, leveraging recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the discovery process. Through close collaboration with experimental researchers, they test their predictions and improve their models for materials design.

Stevie Chancellor

Stevie Chancellor is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Chancellor’s research develops a new paradigm of AI development, human-centered AI, that prioritizes people’s needs alongside technical innovation for better AI systems. This work develops techniques that accurately measure mental illness online, improve AI systems to align with human values, and take user insights to give more control over AI for well-being.

Dongyeop Kang

Dongyeop Kang is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Dongyeop Kang’s group builds cognitively aligned AI that learns from how people reason, read, and write, developing systems that think with humans, not just for them. By integrating insights from language, psychology, and real-world workflows, their research advances human-centered AI that enhances creativity, judgment, and collaboration across science, law, and education.

Kyoko Yoshida

Kyoko Yoshida is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research focuses on hormonal and mechanical interactions on soft tissue growth and remodeling during pregnancy. Pregnancy stands at the interface of biology and mechanics. Throughout 40 weeks of pregnancy, hormones surge as the growing fetus loads the maternal organs. In response, soft tissues adapt to support a healthy pregnancy. While hormones and mechanical loading are known drivers of soft tissue changes, how these signals interact remains unclear. Yoshida’s research focuses on these critical interactions by combining experimental and computational approaches, with the long-term goal of improving pregnant patients’ health.

Additional University of Minnesota faculty members receiving 2026 McKnight Land Grant Professorships:

• Aamina Ahmad, English, College of Liberal Arts
• Nicholas R. Bednar, Law School
• Carolyn T. Bramante, Medicine, Medical School
• Juan Del Toro, Psychology, College of Liberal Arts
• Xiao Dong, Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, Medical School
• Laura Garbes, Sociology, College of Liberal Arts
• Katherine Hendel, School of Public Health
• Brandon Miller, Horticultural Science, College of Food, Agricultural & Natural Resource Sciences
• Maria A. Nieves-Colon, Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts
• Jacqueline Palmer, Family Medicine & Community Health, Medical School
• Stephanie Sisco, Organizational Leadership, Policy & Development, College of Education & Human Development
• Daniel J. Stevens, Physics & Astronomy, Swenson College of Science & Engineering
• Xiaoran Sun, Family Social Science, College of Education & Human Development
• Di Zhu, Geography, Environment, and Society, College of Liberal Arts

Read more about the work of these CSE professors—and the additional recipients of the 2026 University of Minnesota McKnight Land Grant Professorships.