Heng Xu

Dr. Heng Xu is a Professor of Information Technology and Analytics at the Kogod School of Business, American University, joining in 2018 after 12 years at Pennsylvania State University and 3 years as an NSF program director. She has held national leadership roles including co-chairing the Federal Privacy R&D Inter-agency Working Group and serving on the National Academies Committee on Open Science.

Her research centers on responsible AI, fairness in machine learning, cybersecurity management, and privacy protection. She investigates societal impacts of technology, addressing algorithmic bias, data anonymization, and ethical machine learning applications across insurance, personnel selection, and blockchain systems through interdisciplinary approaches spanning business, computer science, and psychology.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals consistent focus on fairness-privacy intersections with expanding applications in catastrophe insurance and personnel analytics. Her work employs diverse methodologies including theoretical critiques, meta-analysis, and empirical studies published across top business, CS, and psychology journals.

Her accolades include:

• INFORMS Information Systems Society's Haim Mendelson Teaching Innovation Award (2023)
• American University's Outstanding Scholarship Award (2022)
• MISQ Impact Award (2021)
• Woman of Achievement Award in IEEE Big Data Security (2021)
• IEEE ITSS Leadership Award (2020)
• Operational Research Society's Stafford Beer Medal (2018)
• NSF CAREER award (2010)
• Multiple best paper awards

Dr. Xu has secured competitive research grants from DARPA, NIH, and NSF. Her editorial leadership at Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly demonstrates academic influence. While specific students aren't listed, her extensive publication record indicates active graduate mentorship.

She directs the Robust Analytics Lab, which develops fair machine learning systems and privacy-preserving technologies through cross-disciplinary collaboration.