Dr. Eddie Cheng named OU’s 2011 Distinguished Professor

By Dan Bodene, contributing writer

Eddie Cheng has been honored as OU’s 2011 Distinguished Professor.

Eddie Cheng, Ph.D., chair of Oakland University’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been honored as OU’s 2011 Distinguished Professor.

“Teaching and learning are Dr. Cheng’s major strengths,” said Virinder K. Moudgil, Ph.D., Oakland’s senior vice president for Academic Affairs and provost. “He has published papers with undergraduate students, and even with high schools students, which is a rarity for a scholar of his stature. Professor Cheng exemplifies the integration of research with the desire to advance student learning and academic success. “

Dr. Cheng, born in Hong Kong, immigrated with his family to Canada when he was 16. He received his bachelor’s degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Waterloo.

He joined the faculty of OU in 1997 as an assistant professor, became an associate professor in 2001 and full professor in 2007. He assumed chairmanship of the Mathematics and Statistics department in 2010.

“My research focus is in the mathematics of operational research and network analysis,” said Dr. Cheng. “Currently, I’m working on parallel computing’s underlying networks – how to link computers together.”

In addition to publishing scores of research papers and articles, Dr. Cheng serves on the editorial board of four noted journals dedicated to mathematical science, networks and operational research and management science. He also has organized, attended and presented at many professional and academic conferences and meetings.

Besides noting his research, the committee of senior OU educators and scholars who recommended Dr. Cheng for Distinguished Professor honors cited his teaching and mentoring activities.

Dr. Cheng serves as director of OU’s Summer Mathematics Institute for bright and gifted pre-college students, and is serving a second stint on the examination committee of the Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition, which recently awarded him its 2011 Service Award. He also has advised and mentored a number of Oakland undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, as well as high-school students.

“I think it’s always good to help train the next generation,” Dr. Cheng said. “Mentoring is part of our research program, because we want to improve what we do well.”

In 2009, Dr. Cheng was named Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Presidents Council of Michigan State Universities. He won the Distinguished Teaching Award of the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America in 2007.

For more information about OU's math programs, view the website at oakland.edu/math.