Dongsong Zhang

Education: Ph.D. in Management Information Systems, Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona

Courses Taught: Big Data Analytics for Competitive Advantage DSBA 6100 as an Affiliate professor, Dept. of Computer Science

Biography:

Dr. Dongsong Zhang, the Interim Executive Director and the former inaugural Director of Research for UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science (SDS), plays a crucial role in shaping the School’s research agenda and fostering collaboration among faculty members across the six partner colleges. With over 20 years of experience in data science research, Dr. Zhang joined UNC Charlotte in 2018 as the Belk Endowed Chair Professor in Business Analytics.

As the Interim Executive Director for the School of Data Science, Dongsong now manages its resources and programs while serving as the representative to the UNC Charlotte community and external industry partners.

As the former Director of Research, Dr. Zhang spearheaded the SDS Seed Grant program, which aims to cultivate interdisciplinary partnerships within the school and foster collaborations with other researchers at UNC Charlotte and academic and industry partners outside the university. By identifying the key areas of expertise for research and facilitating specific projects, Dr. Zhang contributed significantly to the continuous growth and success of the School of Data Science as a leading institution for cutting-edge research in data science.

His current research interests include social computing, health IT, online fraud and deception detection, mobile HCI, business intelligence, and online communities. Zhang has published approximately 160 research articles in journals and conference proceedings and has received a dozen research grants and awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Education, Google Inc., and more. He received his Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona.