Haiyan Cheng

Born and raised in China, Professor Haiyan Cheng came to the United States with a full scholarship in 1998 to pursue a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics at Michigan Technological University. She later moved to Canada, where she earned a second Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Windsor, Ontario. After working as a sessional lecturer in the Computer Science department there from 2003 to 2004, she returned to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Applications at Virginia Tech, graduating in 2009. She then joined Willamette University’s Computer Science Department as an Assistant Professor.

Dr. Cheng’s Ph.D. research focused on uncertainty quantification and reduction techniques for large-scale simulations. Her work in chemical transport systems, particularly with polynomial chaos methods, has contributed to efficient air quality predictions. Her research on data assimilation methods using a hybrid approach has led to improvements in prediction accuracy. Her current research interests include applied machine learning, and computer science education. 

During her 16 years at Willamette, Dr. Cheng has mentored numerous student researchers, many of whom have received financial support through her NSF grant, Willamette’s SCRP and LARC programs, and the Collins Fund.
A life-long learner, Dr. Cheng encourages her students to explore interdisciplinary connections and apply their knowledge in transformative ways throughout their lives.