Rate My Professor Jianwei Niu

Jianwei Niu serves as the Dean of University College and a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds the Hispanic Serving Institution Endowed Chair for the Dean of University College and is a core faculty member in the School of Data Science. Niu earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in 2005 and her B.S. in Computer Science from Jilin University, China. She joined UTSA in 2005 as a tenure-track assistant professor and has since advanced through several leadership roles: Interim Chair of the Department of Computer Science from 2018 to 2019, Interim Academic Director of the School of Data Science from 2019 to 2021, Associate Dean of University College from 2019 to 2023, Interim Dean of University College starting August 2023, and permanent Dean since August 2024. In 2024, she also resumed the role of Interim Executive Director of the School of Data Science.

Niu's research focuses on software engineering, cybersecurity, privacy compliance analysis, formal methods, and data science. She applies formal methods and program analysis to enhance assurance in privacy regulation compliance and security policy enforcement. Her research has received funding from the National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, MITRE, Microsoft, NHARP, and UTSA TRAC awards. Niu has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings, mostly co-authored with students; her publications have garnered multiple Best Paper Awards, one Distinguished Paper Award, two Test of Time Awards, and the ACM SIGSOFT Research Highlights Paper. Her teaching has been honored with the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award and the President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence. Nine of her Ph.D. students have completed their degrees, five securing tenure-track faculty positions at Stony Brook University, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Mary’s University, Air Force Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Niu sponsors the women’s chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery at UTSA and supports initiatives for student success, mentoring, and increasing diversity in technology.