Shashi Shekhar joined the Department of Computer Science & Engineering as an assistant professor in 1989 and was later promoted to a professor. He was named a McKnight Distinguished University Professor in 2005 and a Distinguished University Teaching Professor in 2015. Shekhar was also named a fellow of the IEEE Computer Society and the American Association for Advancement of Science. Prior to his time at the University, he was a software engineer at Taj Services Ltd. in 1984 and a post-graduate researcher at the University of California, Berkeley from 1985-99. He is currently serving as an Associate Director of the College of Science and Engineering Data Science Initiative and an ADC/DSI chair (9/2022 - 8/2025). He is also serving as the Director of a National AI Research Institute, namely, AI-CLIMATE (AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy) starting June 2023.