Shuhai Xiao honored as University Distinguished Professor
In the last year alone, Shuhai Xiao and his collaborators:
- Solved the mystery of sea sponges missing from the fossil record
- Proved the Earth was slushy after the last global ice age
- Extended the chart of life by 1.5 billion years
A big deal. Career-making discoveries.
And these recent insights are only a fraction of the findings and innovations that have resulted from Xiao’s legendary curiosity paired with years of dedication.
For these, he has been named a University Distinguished Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, a rank bestowed on no more than 1 percent of faculty whose scholarly attainments have attracted national and international recognition.
Xiao is a professor in the Department of Geosciences. More precisely, Xiao is geobiologist who focuses on geological history, which means he looks to the rocks to understand the interaction between life on Earth and the Earth itself. He is especially interested in a period that took place 500 million to 600 million years ago, when animals emerged explosively onto the scene.
Xiao’s studies of this period have provided groundbreaking insights into how organisms interacted with each other, how they changed the Earth, and how the Earth changed them in turn.
With support from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the National Geographic Society, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Chemical Society, Xiao is sharpening life-finding tools — not only to provide context and guidance for the future of life on our planet, but to enhance the search for life on other planets.
His innovative research combines field-based geological studies, geochemical analyses, and cutting-edge imaging techniques to reconstruct ancient and alien ecosystems and the environments that shaped them.
"I am truly humbled and deeply grateful for this incredible honor," said Xiao, who is a Patricia A. Caldwell Faculty Fellow in the College of Science. "This is a moment that reminds me of mentors, colleagues, and students who have inspired, supported, and challenged me along the way. I look forward to interrogating more rocks for the Earth’s deepest secrets."
An internationally recognized leader in paleontology and geobiology, Xiao has been published in Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among others. His research has been cited more than 22,000 times.
Among many awards and honors, Xiao was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2023, one of the highest distinctions for a scientist in the United States. Xiao is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the Geological Society of America, and a fellow of the Paleontological Society.
Xiao’s commitment to fostering the next generation of geoscientists is reflected in his mentorship and his ability to engage students through innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to learning. Xiao is highly regarded for his engaging teaching style and his ability to inspire both undergraduate and graduate students to explore the intersections of geology, biology, and environmental science.
Like the fossils he studies, Xiao is leaving an indelible imprint on the geosciences, making Virginia Tech a destination for research and education in paleontology and Earth system evolution.