Wenwen Ding is a PhD candidate in Information Systems at Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas. She completed her Master of Science degree with a specialist concentration in Data Science at the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include cutting-edge quantum machine learning and human-AI interaction, with a focus on technology’s societal and cultural impact. 

In her doctoral studies, she aims to integrate these domains to address real-world problems – for example, exploring how quantum neural networks might improve fairness in credit lending decisions, or how causal inference techniques can uncover and mitigate biases in AI-driven financial models. She is equally interested in the social implications of technology, such as leveraging ICT and AI to benefit underserved communities and behavior studies on how humans and AI systems can collaborate effectively through EEG brainwave technology.

Wenwen has published in the Journal of Global Information Technology Management (IF4.8, 3% acceptance rate) and presented at top IS conferences. Her solo-author study on the impact of ICTs on Tibetan refugee communities was nominated for Best Paper at the 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2024).​ Another project, in which she applied a design science approach to develop an AI-assisted system for diagnosing bone tuberculosis, earned a Best Paper Nominee recognition at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2023). 

In addition to pursuing her doctoral research, her services for the field earned the Best Reviewer Award in the CTO division at the 2023 AOM Annual Meeting​. Wenwen is also active in the broader scholarly community as a contributor to practitioner publications – for example, her article on causal inference in machine learning was featured in The Gradient (2022) and drew a public commentary from Turing Award winner Judea Pearl​. Beyond academia, she was recognized as a GitHub Arctic Code Vault Contributor in 2020 for having her open-source code preserved in GitHub’s Arctic archive​.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Wenwen identifies strongly with her cultural and spiritual heritage. She is a practicing Tibetan Buddhist in the Nyingma (寧瑪派) tradition, one of the oldest schools of Tibetan Buddhism. This practice is a meaningful part of her life, providing balance and insight that inform her perspective as a researcher and individual. In line with her spiritual interests, Wenwen is actively learning the Tibetan language, studying both the Amdo and Lhasa dialects. Embracing these dialects not only connects her more deeply with Tibetan Buddhist teachings but also reflects her dedication to lifelong learning and cultural understanding.

Honors and Awards:

• Best Reviewer Award, Academy of Management Annual Meeting (2023) – Received top distinction (1/319 reviewers) in the Communication, Digital Technology, and Organization division​

• Best Paper Nominee, HICSS-57 (2024) – for research on ICT impacts in refugee communities​

• Best Paper Nominee, ICIS 2023 – for research on AI-assisted medical diagnosis in a design science study​

• GitHub Arctic Code Vault Contributor (2020) – Recognized by GitHub for contributions archived in the Arctic Code Vault (e.g., her open-source project on reject inference in lending)​

• Best Undergraduate Thesis Award, Zhejiang University of Technology (2016)​

Professional Services:

• Journal Reviewer for Academy of Management Review (AMR), the Journal of Strategic Information Systems (JSIS), and the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS).​

• Conference Reviewer for multiple international conferences, including the Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meetings, International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), and Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS). (Her exemplary reviewing led to the AOM award noted above.)

Media and Outreach:

• Author, The Gradient – Wrote “Causal Inference: Connecting Data and Reality” (2022), an accessible article on bridging data science and causal reasoning. This piece reached a broad AI audience and even elicited a response from Turing Award Winner Judea Pearl, who acknowledged and discussed her article on X (previously Twitter). 

• Maintains an active contributor on GitHub (as “WynnDing”), where she shares research code and projects in her areas of expertise. Her GitHub contributions led to an official Arctic Code Vault designation, signifying that her code was included in GitHub’s long-term archival initiative.

Teaching Experience:

• University of Arkansas – Graduate Teaching Assistant / Instructor (2021–Present): Wenwen has been involved in teaching undergraduate courses in Walton College’s Information Systems department. She has served as the instructor for ERP Fundamentals (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Systems Analysis and Design, delivering both in-person and online sessions.

• University of Hong Kong – Graduate Teaching Assistant (2016) for Digital Scholarship Centers Workshop.  She has enjoyed mentoring students and helping them grasp complex information technology concepts in these roles, an experience that has honed her communication skills and pedagogical approach.