Wenxian Shen, PhD
Short Bio
Contact information: Wenxian Shen
Office: 3133 STEM & Ag Sciences Complex.
Phone: 334-844-6578
email: wenxish@auburn.edu
Mailing Address: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
Research Interests: My main research interests are in differential equations, dynamical systems, and their applications. My current interests focus on global well posedness and asymptotic dynamics in various chemotaxis systems, and front propagation dynamics in population models on unbounded metric graphs.
Professional Experience: I have been a full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Auburn University since 2002, and was appointed to the Don Logan Endowed Chair of Mathematics in October, 2023.
Professional Activities: I have been serving or served as member of the editorial boards for several Mathematical Journals, including the Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society (02/2017 to 01/2025), Journal of Differential Equations (03/2021 to present), Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations (06/2021 to present), and Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems - B (01/2024 to present).
Mentoring: I have served as advisor for 12 PhD students (all but two remain in academia) and is currently advising 2 PhD students.
Education
PhD, Mathematics Georgia Institute of Technology 1992
MS, Mathematics Beijing University 1987
BS, Mathematics Zhejiang Normal University 1982
Professional Experience
Professor, Auburn University, 2002-present
Associate Professor, Auburn University, 1997-2002
Assistant Professor, Auburn University,1992-1997
Innovation
My main research interests are in differential equations, dynamical systems and their applications. My current interests focus on global well posedness and asymptotic dynamicsin various chemotaxis systems, and front propagation dynamics in population models on unbounded metric graphs.
Recent Honors and Awards
- Don Logan Endowed Chair, October 2023 to present (College of Sciences and Mathematics, Auburn University)
- Dean's Award for Outstanding Teacher, 2018 (College of Sciences and Mathematics, Auburn University)
- Marie Kraska Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2018 (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Auburn University)
Recent Professional Activities
- Editorial Board, Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems - B, January 2024 to present
- Editorial Board, Journal of Differential Equations, March 2021 to present
- Editorial Board, Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations, June 2021 to present
- Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, February 2017 to January 2025
- Co-organizer, special session on Dissipative Systems and Applications at the 15th AIMS Conference, July 6-10, 2026, Athens, Greece
- Co-organizer, BIRS Workshop on New Trends in Elliptic and Parabolic Equations, November 16-21, 2025, Banff International Research Station, Canada
- Co-organizer, special session on Theory and Application of Parabolic PDEs at the 2023 Fall Southeastern Sectional Meeting, October 13-15, 2023, University of South Alabama, Alabama
- Co-organizer, mini-symposium on PDE, Dynamical Systems and Applications at the 44th SIAM Southeastern Atlantic Section Conference, September 18-19, 2021, Auburn University, Alabama
Selected recent publications
- Zulaihat Hassan, Wenxian Shen and Yuming Paul Zhang, “The spreading of global solutions of chemotaxis systems with logistic source and consumption on R^N,” Calculus of Variations and Partial Differential Equations, vol. 64, no. 4, Paper No. 135, 55 pp., 2025.
- Hewan Shemtaga, Wenxian Shen and Selim Sukhtaiev, “Well-posedness of Keller-Segel systems on compact metric graphs,” Journal of Evolution Equations, vol. 25, no. 1, Paper No. 7, 62 pp., 2025.
- Wenxian Shen and Jian-Wen Sun, “Asymptotic behavior of the generalized principal eigenvalues of nonlocal dispersal operators and applications,” Journal of Differential Equations, vol. 413, pp. 288-328, 2024.
- Halil Ibrahim Kurt, Wenxian Shen and Shuwen Xue, “Stability, bifurcation and spikes of stationary solutions in a chemotaxis system with singular sensitivity and logistic source,” Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences, vol. 34, no. 9, pp. 1649-1700, 2024.
- Lianzhang Bao and Wenxian Shen, “Vanishing-spreading dichotomy in a two-species chemotaxis competition system with a free boundary,” Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 2905-2938, 2023.
- Halil Ibrahim Kurt and Wenxian Shen, “Two-species chemotaxis-competition system with singular sensitivity: global existence, boundedness, and persistence,” Journal of Differential Equations, vol. 355, pp. 248-295, 2023.
- Wenxian Shen, Zhongwei Shen, Shuwen Xue and Dun Zhou, “Population dynamics under climate change: persistence criterion and effects of fluctuations,” Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 84, no. 4, Paper No. 30, 42 pp., 2022.
- Li-Jun Du, Wan-Tong Li and Wenxian Shen, “Propagation phenomena for time-space periodic monotone semiflows and applications to cooperative systems in multi-dimensional media,” Journal of Functional Analysis, vol. 282, no. 9, Paper No. 109415, 59 pp., 2022.
- Maria Amarakristi Onyido and Wenxian Shen, “Nonlocal dispersal equations with almost periodic dependence. I. Principal spectral theory,” Journal of Differential Equations, vol. 295, pp. 1-38, 2021.
- Rachidi B. Salako and Wenxian Shen, “Long time behavior of random and nonautonomous Fisher-KPP equations: Part I — Stability of equilibria and spreading speeds,” Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 1035-1070, 2021.
- Wenxian Shen and Shuwen Xue, “Persistence and spreading speeds of parabolic-elliptic Keller-Segel models in shifting environments,” Journal of Differential Equations, vol. 269, no. 7, pp. 6236-6268, 2020.
- Tahir Bachar Issa and Wenxian Shen, “Pointwise persistence in full chemotaxis models with logistic source on bounded heterogeneous environments,” Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, vol. 490, no. 1, Article 124204, 30 pp., 2020.
