Computer Science and Engineering professor and interim department chair, Yan Huang, has been named a UNT Regents Professor for her contributions to research in the field of computer science at the national and international levels and for her work in advancing the college’s initiatives in teaching and service.

A Regents Professorship Award provides recognition to faculty who have performed outstanding teaching, research and service to the profession, and who have achieved a high level of national and international recognition.

Huang's research focuses on developing theoretical foundations as well as novel and fast query processing and machine learning algorithms for large scale geospatial computations ubiquitous in physical, earth, space, biological, social sciences, and engineering disciplines. Her research forms the core technologies for modern spatial databases and spatial data mining. She has received the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Distinguished Scientist Award and an ACM SIGSPATIAL 10-year Impact Award for her research on map-matching for low-sampling-rate GPS trajectories.

Her research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Texas Department of Transportation, Office of Naval Research, National Geo-spatial Intelligence Agency, Texas Advanced Research Program, and the Oakridge National Laboratory.

During her tenure at the college, she served as the associate dean for research and graduate studies, senior associate dean, interim dean, and interim chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. She has been named chair of department, effective Sept. 1, 2021, following a national search.

While at UNT Engineering, Huang led multiple initiatives focused on filling degree gaps, cultivating a strong research culture, mentoring junior faculty, and increasing graduate recruitment. In particular, she developed a junior faculty mentoring program that was instrumental to the success of the college's young faculty and led the development and approval of four new forward-looking M.S. degrees.

"Yan's work has no doubt left a positive impact within the field of computer science and within the university, and we are fortunate to have her here at UNT Engineering," said Dean Hanchen Huang.

Huang also has served in a variety of external leadership roles, including as a board member, general chair, and program committee chair, for ACM SIGSPATIAL and SSTD Endowment.