Two CSE faculty members named Distinguished McKnight University Professors

Awards recognize outstanding and high-achieving University of Minnesota professors

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (04/14/2025)— Two College of Science and Engineering faculty members are among the 10 recipients of the University of Minnesota’s 2025 Distinguished McKnight University Professorship, an award given to outstanding faculty who have made significant advances in their careers while at the University and recently achieved full professor status. Recipients are chosen based on merit, research accomplishments, and leadership activities, among other factors.

Each faculty member will receive a research grant of $120,000 over five years, to be used for expenditures related to the recipient’s research and scholarly activities. They will also maintain the title of “Distinguished McKnight University Professor” for as long as they remain at the University.

2025 CSE Distinguished McKnight University Professors

Erin Carlson

Erin Carlson is a professor in the Department of Chemistry. Her research seeks to address the public health emergency of antibiotic resistance. Carlson’s innovative approach is to instead block the ability of bacteria to sense and respond to their surroundings. Her research has dramatically expanded our understanding of how bacteria interact with their environment and how this can be disrupted to weaken a pathogen’s ability to cause disease.

Lian Shen

Lian Shen is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He studies turbulent air and water flows, water waves and their interactions. The research has broad applications in environmental, geophysical and climate studies and is essential for many engineering problems in the atmosphere, ocean and lake environments. Professor Shen’s group has developed state-of-the-art computer simulation tools for fluid motions, made major breakthroughs in developing innovative theories for wave-turbulence interaction mechanisms and significantly contributed to the marine environment and offshore wind energy applications.

Additional University of Minnesota faculty members receiving 2025 Distinguished McKnight University Professorships:

• Manuel Amador, Economics, College of Liberal Arts
• Mark Bee, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, College of Biological Sciences
• Jed Elison, Institute of Child Development, College of Education & Human Development
• Tanisha Fazal, Political Science, College of Liberal Arts
• Erik Finger, Surgery, Medical School
• Jeffrey Gralnick, Plant and Microbial Biology, College of Biological Sciences
• Alexander Khoruts, Medicine, Medical School
• Gülin Öz, Radiology, Medical School

Read more about the 2025 University of Minnesota Distinguished McKnight University Professors.