University of Georgia faculty members Elena Karahanna and J. Marshall Shepherd have earned the distinction of Regents’ Professors, the University System of Georgia’s highest professorial honor.

Karahanna is a Distinguished Research Professor and the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Distinguished Chair in Business Administration in the Terry College of Business. Shepherd is the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Regents’ Professorships are bestowed by the Board of Regents on exemplary faculty whose scholarship or creative activity is recognized both nationally and internationally.

“The Regents’ Professorship is a prestigious honor reserved for only the most exceptional faculty members, and I offer my deepest congratulations to Dr. Karahanna and Dr. Shepherd,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Their dedication to students, innovative research and service to our state and world is inspiring.”

Elena Karahanna

A globally recognized scholar and leader in her discipline, Karahanna’s research has fundamentally shaped how individuals and organizations engage with digital technology. She is one of the most cited information systems scholars worldwide, and she has authored three of the 25 most cited papers in MIS Quarterly, the field’s premier journal. Her work spans critical areas such as technology adoption, algorithmic coordination, health care information technology and the societal impacts of artificial intelligence.

Karahanna’s research excellence has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including two MIS Quarterly Best Paper Awards, the Association for Information Systems Senior Scholars Best Publication Award and the AIS LEO Award, the discipline’s highest lifetime honor. She has also been elected as both an AIS Fellow and an INFORMS Information Systems Society Distinguished Fellow, recognitions that underscore her sustained, field-defining impact.

“It is rare to find a scholar who repeatedly shapes the intellectual currents of a field, yet Dr. Karahanna has done so throughout her career,” said Gerald C. Kane, C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Distinguished Chair in Business Administration and head of the department of management information systems. “The arc of her scholarship consistently anticipates where digital technology and organizations are headed and then provides a novel conceptualization and empirical base on which others build.”

In addition to her groundbreaking research, Karahanna is a celebrated teacher and mentor. She has chaired 16 doctoral dissertations, with her former students now holding faculty positions at leading universities worldwide. For more than two decades, she has also played a critical role in shaping the Terry College’s doctoral curriculum, helping prepare the next generation of scholars in information systems.

J. Marshall Shepherd

Shepherd is a highly decorated scholar and global expert in weather and climate, known for his pioneering research and longstanding commitment to mentoring students and early-career scientists.

His research has significantly advanced understanding of extreme weather patterns, predictability and associated risks. In response to growing urbanization, his work has also provided important insights into interactions between urban environments and weather-hydroclimate systems in the United States.

Additionally, Shepherd uses his exceptional communications skills to convey the short- and long-term impacts of severe weather events to the public. He is the host of The Weather Channel’s talk show and podcast “Weather Geeks” and a senior contributor to Forbes Magazine.

“In the field of atmospheric science, he is truly a national treasure, possessing rare and unmatched abilities to conduct original scholarly research and to convey complex scientific concepts to the general public with clarity and impact,” said Jose D. Fuentes, professor of atmospheric science at The Pennsylvania State University.

Since 2023, Shepherd has served as associate dean for research, scholarship and partnerships in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. He also holds an appointment in the College of Engineering.

Among his many accolades, Shepherd was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineers. He is one of only a handful of scholars to hold membership in all three distinguished organizations. In 2022, he was selected as SEC Professor of the year.

For a complete list of Regents’ Professors at UGA, see https://provost.uga.edu/academic-excellence/honors-awards/career-achievement-awards-professorships/regents-professorships/regents-professors/.