Junhua Ding
Junhua Ding, the founding chair and Reinburg Endowed Professor in the University of
North Texas’s Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science, has been selected
as the inaugural dean of the University of Wyoming’s School of Computing.
The appointment, effective Friday, Aug. 1, was approved this week by UW’s Board of
Trustees.
Ding has a 25-year career in software development and data science in the United States,
both in academia and the private sector. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in
computer science from Florida International University.
“We’re delighted to welcome Dr. Ding as the leader of our new but well-established
School of Computing,” says Interim Provost Anne Alexander. “His experience in building
the data science program at the University of North Texas will have great application
for UW, and we’re excited for what the future holds for our students and many partners.”
After “incubating” for more than three years in UW’s College of Engineering and Physical
Sciences, the School of Computing became a stand-alone academic unit last year. The
School of Computing serves a university-wide mission, collaborating with multiple
colleges.
After serving as a faculty member in East Carolina University’s Department of Computer
Science from 2007-2013, Ding became the founding director and first faculty member
of the data science program at the University of North Texas (UNT) in 2018. He led
the creation of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs, growing enrollment from
four students in 2018 to more than 750 by spring 2025. He recruited 15 other faculty
members and nine affiliated faculty members, building a nationally recognized department.
In January 2025, he led the establishment of the $2.2 million Sinha Data Science Innovation Lab at UNT. He has secured millions of dollars in external funding, including over $1 million from federal agencies and more than $500,000 from industry. In addition to winning multiple awards for research, teaching, service and leadership, he has mentored Ph.D. graduates who have gone on to positions at Google and tenure-track appointments at Carnegie R1 universities.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.