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Wenbin Zhang

Assistant Professor

Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences

Florida International University


11200 SW 8th Street, CASE 333
Miami, Florida, USA 33199
+1 305-348-4249

Hello, my name is Wenbin Zhang (Pronouns: he/him/his; pronounced: jahng wen-bee-eehn). I am a Hakka born Assistant Professor at Florida International University, and an Associate Member at the Te Ipu o te Mahara Artificial Intelligence Institute. The main focus of my research is on designing machine learning algorithms that have theoretical performance guarantees and social consciousness. I am particularly interested in combining the aspect of gaining machine learning knowledge with an orientation towards making machine learning usable and useful for high-stakes decision-making, such as healthcare, business, climate, policy, and law. To this end, I have been exploring complex real-world data (e.g., EHR, MODIS, supply chain data), under multifarious contexts (e.g., censorship, imbalance, distribution shift), subject to different metrics (e.g., fairness, regime centroids, c-index), through joyful collaboration and team work with computational scientists and domain experts. Supporting my work, I earned the NSF CRII Award in 2023. Incidentally, my Erdős number is 3 (Me -> Alan Evans -> David Avis -> Erdős) as a result of the enjoyed interdisciplinary collaboration. You can read more about my research here.

I southwarded all the way to Miami from the Upper Peninsula where I held the same role at Michigan Technological University. Prior to that, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Carnegie Mellon University after receiving a Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I also spent time at multiple global research centers and institutions, including L3S Research Center, University of Milano-Bicocca, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Télécom Paris, George Mason University and National Institutes of Health. I had four Stendhal syndrome years in Beijing and Tianjin before starting my study abroad in Newfoundland, where it snowed in June (not anymore due to global warming).

Aside from my obvious interest in research, I enjoy watching and playing all kinds of sports especially soccer. I had the experience of my life at Kaliningrad Stadium cheering the 2018 World Cup. I ran my very first Marathon at Virginia Beach credit to November Project. Finally, I believe Manchester is red as I thought David Beckham was cool when I was young. Him growing up, me supporting United till date.

Last but not least, I appreciate you taking the time to surf the internet this far to check up on and to read a bit of my story. Presuming I am not that boring, I encourage you to say hello before you leave for our interesting conversations to come.


News Highlights


Aug 2023

  • Humbled to be recognized as a Distinguished SPC for IJCAI this year.
  • We moved to FIU and are looking for new Panthers. Join our family!

Jul 2023

  • NSF travel grant to support students in an “on-ramp” into AIES, fostering a truly interdisciplinary approach to AI.

Jun 2023

  • My first NSF proposal was funded. Look forward to producing great results for social good!
  • The Best Paper Award at FAccT 2023 was clinched by Zichong's inaugural paper.
  • Karen started her master’s journey with us.

Apr 2023

  • I will serve as the Volunteer Chair for WSDM 2024 and Student Program Chair for AIES 2023.

Mar 2023

  • I will serve as the Publicity Chair for ICMLA 2023 and DS 2023. Please consider submitting your paper!

Jan 2023

  • Sneha started her master’s journey with us.

Nov 2022

  • I will serve as the Student Travel Award Chair for ICDM 2023, and Web Chair for FAccT 2023.

Oct 2022

  • Welcome Tyler, our inaugural undergrad researcher.

Sep 2022

  • Jason joined us as a research fellow supported by NIH AIM-AHEAD fellowship.

Aug 2022

  • Zichong joined our lab as the founding student member.
  • Started my faculty position at Michigan Tech and excited to be in the Upper Peninsula for the first time.