Jianwei Niu, Ph.D.

Hispanic Thriving Institution Endowed Chair for the Dean of University College

Dean, University College

Professor, Department of Computer Science

Professor Jianwei Niu is known for her funded research programs and extensive collaborations in curriculum development within and across multiple colleges.

Niu served as interim dean of University College for a year prior to her appointment as dean in August 2024. Prior to that she served as associate dean of the college from 2019-2023. She served as interim academic director of the School of Data Science from 2019 to 2021 and interim chair of the Department of Computer Science from 2018 to 2019. She is a professor of computer science and a core faculty member in the UTSA School of Data Science.

Niu’s research focuses on software engineering, cyber security, and privacy compliance analysis. Through the use of formal methods and program analysis, she is able to heighten assurance that privacy regulations are complied and security policies are enforced. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Security Agency (NSA), U.S. Department of Defense, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, MITRE, and Microsoft, among others. She has published more than 60 peer reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and has co-authored most of publications with her students. Many of her publications have received prestigious awards, including multiple Best Paper Awards, one Distinguished Paper Award, two Test of Time Awards, and the ACM SIGSOFT Research Highlights Paper.

Niu’s teaching has been recognized with the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award and the President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence. Nine Ph.D. students successfully completed their doctoral degrees under her supervision, with five securing their tenure-track academic positions at Stony Brook University, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Mary's University, Air Force Institute of Technology, and UTSA.

Niu is passionate about increasing female and minority representation in technology and improving student success through mentoring and professional development, for which she has received several grant fundings. In addition, she is faculty sponsor of the women’s chapter of the Association of Computer Machinery at UTSA.

Niu earned her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 2005 and immediately after she started the tenure-track assistant professor position at UTSA.