Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, College of Engineering

Associate Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Dr. Leslie Shor is Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education at the University of Connecticut. Shor has an interdisciplinary background and focus, with a primary appointment in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a graduate faculty appointment in the Environmental Engineering program. Shor is also core faculty at the Center for Environmental Science and Engineering and affiliated with the Institute of Materials Science.

Dr. Shor is active in education and outreach initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in STEM and enhancing human welfare through engineering solutions to the Grand Challenges. In her own research program, Shor mentors an interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of chemical engineering, microbiology, and advanced manufacturing. The focus of her research work is developing new biotechnology to enhance sustainable food production. Since coming to UConn in 2009, Shor has secured over $5 million in research funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and several others. Because of her leadership and academic strength, Dr. Shor was named a Dupont Young Professor, has been a finalist for a Connecticut Women of Innovation award, and has been an invited speaker for the National Academy of Engineering, Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium. She has nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings.

Dr. Shor earned her BA in Environmental Sciences and Chemistry (double-major) from the University of Virginia, and her PhD in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Rutgers University. Prior to coming to UConn, she held several appointments at Vanderbilt University. In 2018 she spent six months at the University of Adelaide in South Australia as a visiting faculty member.