XiaoFeng Wang (Chinese: 王晓峰; pinyin: Wáng Xiǎofēng) is a Chinese-American computer scientist known for his research on computer security, cryptography, and privacy. Wang joined the faculty of Indiana University Bloomington (IU) in 2004. He was appointed as a full professor in 2015 and as the associate dean for research in 2023 at IU's Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. He is now a professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. In March 2025, Wang told IU he was planning to accept a position at another university after the end of the current academic year, and IU responded by putting him on administrative leave, locking him out of his office and laptop, disabling his email account, removing his faculty profile and contact information from the university website, and then firing him from his position by email a couple of weeks later without providing a reason for his dismissal. His wife, who also worked at IU, was similarly dismissed by email without explanation. On the same day he was fired, his two homes were searched by the United States FBI and Department of Homeland Security federal agencies. It was later reported that the university has been investigating whether Wang had properly revealed who he was collaborating with and the sources of the funding for his research – including whether he was receiving funding from China. Neither he nor his wife were arrested or charged with any crime. The faculty labor union and more than 250 members of the IU faculty and staff have protested the manner of his dismissal, including at least 32 faculty members of the computer science department.
Biography
Education Wang received a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1993, a Master of Engineering in computer science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1996, and a Doctor of Philosophy in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004. His doctoral dissertation is titled Multiagent coordination under untrusted and uncertain environments (2004). His doctoral advisor was Pradeep Khosla, currently serving as the eighth chancellor of the University of California, San Diego.
Career After PhD graduation, Wang joined Indiana University Bloomington's School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering in 2004 as a faculty member. He served as assistant professor from 2004 to 2010, as associate professor from 2010 to 2015, and as full professor from 2015 to 2025. He was named the James H. Rudy Professor of Computer Science, Engineering, and Informatics in 2017. Wang was the lead principal investigator for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Distributed Confidential Computing. This NSF project in secure and trustworthy computing involved faculty from IU (the lead), Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, Ohio State University, Penn State, Purdue University, Spelman College, and Yale University. Wang was also the director of Indiana University's Center for Security and Privacy in Informatics, Computing, and Engineering (SPICE). In the ACM, Wang has been the chair of the Special Interest Group on Security, Audit and Control (SIGSAC). As of early March 2025, Wang was the associate dean for research; the James H. Rudy Professor of Computer Science, Engineering and Informatics; the director of Center for Security and Privacy in Informatics, Computing, and Engineering; and the director of Secure Computing at IU.
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