NYU Shanghai has appointed internationally renowned engineer and educator Yao Wang as Dean of Computer Science, Data Science, and Engineering (CSDSE), effective September 1, 2026.
Wang joins NYU Shanghai after more than three decades of scholarship, teaching, and academic leadership at New York University. She is currently a professor at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, with joint appointments in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. She previously served as associate dean and vice dean for faculty affairs at NYU Tandon.
Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman hailed Wang as an accomplished scholar and academic leader. “She values rigorous research and teaching in all areas of computer science, data science, and engineering, and also knows first-hand what it takes to build intellectual bridges between China and the United States,” he said. “We are very fortunate to have recruited Yao Wang to this role.”
An expert in video coding and streaming, multimedia signal processing, computer vision, and medical imaging, Wang is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization. She is the lead author of the widely adopted textbook Video Processing and Communications, and her research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Her many distinctions include the New York City Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science and Technology, which she received in 2000, and the NYU Tandon Distinguished Teacher Award, which she received in 2016. She has also received the IEEE Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Prize Paper Award and the IEEE Communications Society Multimedia Communications Technical Committee Best Paper Award.
Provost Bei Wu said Wang’s distinguished record of research excellence and collaborative leadership will strengthen interdisciplinary partnerships across the University and further advance innovation in research and education. “It makes her exceptionally well-suited to lead CSDSE, and I am confident that she will prepare our students to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world,” she said.
For Wang, joining NYU Shanghai represents an opportunity to contribute to a uniquely global academic community. After spending the spring semester on campus, she said she was impressed by the students’ research aptitude and communication skills. “I hope to strengthen collaborations with top academic departments and industrial labs in China, as well as with NYU New York and Abu Dhabi, both in research and education,” she said. “I look forward to becoming part of the Shanghai community.”