XiaoFeng Wang (computer scientist)

XiaoFeng Wang (Chinese: 王晓峰; pinyin: Wáng Xiǎofēng) is a Chinese-American computer scientist known for his research on computer security, cryptography, and privacy. Wang joined the faculty of Indiana University Bloomington (IU) in 2004. He was appointed as a full professor in 2015 and as the associate dean for research in 2023 at IU's Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering.

Wang graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a PhD in electrical and computer engineering in 2004 and joined Indiana University Bloomington as a faculty member the same year. He was an assistant professor from 2004 to 2010, associate professor from 2010 to 2015, and full professor from 2015 to 2025. He was named the James H. Rudy Professor of Computer Science, Engineering, and Informatics in 2017. He was the associate dean for research from 2023 until 2025, as well as serving as the director of the Center for Security and Privacy in Informatics, Computing, and Engineering and the director of secure computing.

He has been the author of hundreds of papers on computer security and related subjects, and is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He was the principal investigator of research projects totaling about $23 million during his time at IU, including leading the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Distributed Confidential Computing. In the ACM, he has been the chair of its Special Interest Group on Security, Audit and Control (SIGSAC) since 2021 and was its vice-chair for 2017 to 2021.

In March 2025, Wang told IU he was planning to accept a position at another university after the end of the current academic year, and IU responded by putting him on administrative leave, locking him out of his office and laptop, disabling his email account, removing his faculty profile and contact information from the university website, and then firing him from his position by email a couple of weeks later without providing a reason for his dismissal. His wife, who also worked at IU, was similarly dismissed by email without explanation. On the same day he was fired, his two homes were searched by the United States FBI and Department of Homeland Security federal agencies. It was later reported that the university has been investigating whether Wang had properly revealed who he was collaborating with and the sources of the funding for his research – including whether he was receiving funding from China. Neither he nor his wife were arrested or charged with any crime. The faculty labor union and more than 250 members of the IU faculty and staff have protested the manner of his dismissal, including at least 32 faculty members of the computer science department.