Shashi Shekhar, a McKnight Distinguished University Professor at the University of Minnesota, is a leading scholar of spatial computing (think Google Maps, Uber and geotagging) and Geographic Information Systems. That’s the technology at the center of efforts to use smartphone apps to help trace the spread of COVID-19.

Shekhar teaches computer science, is a board member of the Computing Research Association and is co-editor-in-chief of the international, GIS-focused journal GeoInformatica. His publications include more than 350 papers, a textbook and an encyclopedia. 

He has received the 2015 Education Award from the University Consortium for GIS Science and the 2006 Technical Achievement Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society, among others. 

Expertise: Computer science, spatial computing, geographic information systems, COVID-19 tracking

Location: Minneapolis, Minn. 

Email: shekhar@cs.umn.edu    

Phone: 612-624-8307 (o)

Listen to Shashi Shekhar on the Tonya Hall Innovation Show: