Chad Myers Named Distinguished McKnight University Professor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering’s Chad Myers was named a Distinguished McKnight University Professor. The Distinguished McKnight University Professorship program recognizes outstanding faculty members who have recently achieved full professor status. Myers is one of 12 recipients from across the University.
Recipients receive a research grant of $120,000 over five years, to be used for
expenditures related to the recipient’s research and scholarly activities. Myers will hold the title “Distinguished McKnight University Professor” for as long as he remains employed at the University of Minnesota.
“The reason I am a faculty member is because I like teaching,” said Myers. “You can do research in a number of different settings. The thing that sets being a faculty member apart is the fact that you get to teach students frequently. Teaching has a strange effect - it’s intense and you are busy, but you also derive energy from doing it. You get back way more than what you put in. Finding new ways to explain concepts to help student comprehension can change your own perspective and support your next idea.”
Myers joined the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2019. He currently serves as the Co-Director of Graduate Studies for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. He was a McKnight Land-Grant Professor from 2011-13 and earned the George W. Taylor Career Development Award in 2013. Myers also earned the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2010. Recently, he earned the 2023-24 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education for his work with the BICB program. Myers' research focuses on machine learning approaches for integrating diverse genomic data to make inferences about biological networks. The main purpose of the work is to further the understanding of gene function and how genes or proteins interact to carry out cellular processes.
“I benefited from people like the late John Carlis,” said Myers. “He really cared about the quality of teaching in the department. He was one of the first people I met when I was interviewing for a faculty position at the U of M. He really emphasized that the department wants to hire people who care about teaching and you can see how that culture has continued in the department. I want to be someone who continues to nurture that culture. I want my mentorship to have an emphasis on teaching.
The complete list of 2024 Distinguished McKnight University Professors can be found on the Scholars Walk website.