Kathleen Collins awarded Distinguished McKnight University Professorship

Congratulations to Professor Kathleen Collins on being awarded the 2026 Distinguished McKnight University Professorship.

This award recognizes the most distinguished and highest-achieving faculty members who have made significant advances in their careers while at the University of Minnesota and have recently achieved full professor status. Recipients are selected on the basis of merit, research accomplishments, leadership activities, among other factors.

Kathleen Collins' research investigates the complex politics of post-communist Eurasia, particularly Soviet legacies and threats to democracy, as well as long-term consequences of Soviet power. By brutally repressing clans and Islam, the USSR inadvertently sowed the seeds of violence. Communism also created formidable, civilian-controlled militaries with anti-democratic norms and practices that devalued human life. Collins examines the conditions under which such profoundly destructive legacies can be transformed to support democracy, religious freedom, and human security.

Composed by Sophia Paschke, communications associate.