Biosketch

Biosketch

Professor, an M.S. Graduate Program advisor, and Associate Chair of Research in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). 

Faculty for the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Computational and Data Science Program.

Honors Faculty. 

Member of the interdisciplinary team of the MTSU Quantum Initiative. 

Associate Director of Education (graduate track): QRiSE (Quantum Research, Interdisciplinary Science, and Education) Center at MTSU, October 2025 - September 2026. 

Co-president (2021 - present): Association for Women in Science (AWIS) TN Chapter. 

Co-Director for SIMIODE EXPO 2023, 10-12 February 2023. (SIMIODE: Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations)

Distinguished Research Award, College of Basic and Applied Science, MTSU, 2019.

Life-long Phi Kappa Phi member. President (2011-12), vice president (2009-10), and secretary (2008-09, 2022-26), member-at-large (2026-current) of Phi Kappa Phi at MTSU --- Let the Love of Learning Rule Humanity.

Active SIMIODE (Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations) user and educator. 

Education

• Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville (UTK), 2006

• M.S. in Applied Mathematics, Ocean University of China, 2001

• B.S. in Mathematics Education, Qingdao University, China, 1998.

Research

Applied mathematics and computational science, with emphasis on optimal control, mathematical biology, scientific machine learning, and emerging applications in quantum information science and quantum biology. Please see Research for details.

Dr. Ding finished her Post Doctoral Research with Drs. Suzanne Lenhart and Louis Gross on optimal control of spatial ecology and natural resource management. See the Grid Computing Project for Ecological Modeling and Spatial Control.

CV (pdf)

• Google Scholar

• ORCID

• LinkedIn

• Researchgate

• GitHub

• MTSU Academic Online

Highlights

Grants from the National Science Foundation:

1. PI: NSF DGE #2510274: NRT-QISE-AI: Middle Tennessee Interdisciplinary Graduate Research and Training in Quantum Information Science and AI, (Co-PIs: Hanna Terletska, Joshua Phillips, Jing Kong, Abdul-Qayyum Khaliq; Senior Personnel: Donglin Wang and Kritagya Upadhyay), $2,000,000, 2025 --- 2030. 

2, Co-PI: NSF DMS #2234176: Shanks Workshop on Advances in Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (PI: X. Zhao, co-PIs: M. Horn, W. Ding, P. Hinow and X. Huo), $27,000, 2023 -24.

3. PI: NSF DMS #1757493: REU Site: Computational Modeling and Simulation in Applied Sciences
    (co-PIs: R. Leander, W. Robertson and J. Phillips), $241,470, 2018-2023.    MTSU News 08/02/21,            MTSU News  08/07/22                      Malaria Modelling, an optimal control problem.    Research Outreach, May 17, 2022.
    On Facebook: 2022              On    Twitter: 2022

4. Co-PI: NSF ADVANCE IT-Catalyst (NSF HRD #1409638):  A Catalyst to ADVANCE the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic STEM Careers at Middle Tennessee State University (PI: B. Bartel, Co-PIs: J. Iriarte-Gross, W. Ding, J. Eller and K. Petersen), $195,002.00, 2014 - 2018.  MTSU ADVANCE Web Page

Editorial Positions:

• Associate Editor: International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 2022 – present.

• Board of Editors: PRIMUS, 2023 -- present

• Guest Editor: W. Ding, R. Leander, and Z. Shuai. Mathematical Biology, Differential Equations, and Optimal Control: A special issue in honor of Suzanne Lenhart on her 70th birthday, Numerical Algebra, Control and Optimization, 2024.   

• Guest Editor: Wandi Ding, Joshua L. Phillips, Zhuolin Qu, and Russell Zaretzki.
  Special Issue: Machine Learning, Mathematical and Statistical Modeling for SystemsBiology,
  Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2021--22.

• Guest Editor: Ding, Wandi; Kang, Yun; Mubayi, Anuj. Special Issue: Mathematical modeling and analysis of social and ecological determinants for the dynamics of infectious diseases and public health policies. Math. Biosci. Eng.18 (2021), no. 6, 8535–8537. 

• Guest Editor: Rachel Leander, Wandi Ding, and Rene A. Salinas. Special Issue Dedicated to Suzanne Lenhart, Journal of Natural Resource Modeling, 31:4, 2018.

• Editor: Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB) Digest, 2013 -- 2019.

• Editor: American Research Journal of Mathematics, 2017 -- present.

• Editor: International Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, 2014 -- 2018.

Referee 

 SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics,    SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization,     Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications,    Optimal Control Applications and Methods,     Journal of Theoretical Biology,      Journal of Mathematical Biology,     Mathematical Biosciences,    Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment,    Ecological Applications,    Natural Resource Modeling,     Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering,      Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications,     Applicable Analysis,     Journal of Biological Dynamics,     Journal of Biological Systems,  Numerical Algebra, Control and Optimization,  Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems Series B.,     International Journal of Computer Mathematics,     Applied Mathematical Modeling,      International Journal of Dynamics and Control,      Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences,     Environment and Natural Resources Research,      Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences,      International Journal of Biomathematics,     Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science,      Communications in Mathematics and Applications,     Journal of Nonlinear Science and Applications,     BioSystems,     PRIMUS,      Pearson Education,       McGraw-Hill Educatio,     Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics,     Chaos, Solitons & Fractals,      Mathematical Control and Related Fields,      Journal of Applied Mathematics,     Mathematics and Statistics,    La Matematica. Official Journal of the Association for Women in Mathematics.

Memberships

• The American Association for the Advancement (AAAS), 2010 - present.

• Association for Women In Science (AWIS), 2015 - present
  Co-President of AWIS TN Chapter, 2021 - present

• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), 2004 - present

• Lifetime Member of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (ΦκΦ)

• Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB), 2007 - present

• Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), 2008- present

• Resource Modeling Association (RMA)

• American Mathematical Society (AMS) (2007-2019)

• American Association of University Professors (AAUP) (2010-2012)

• Member of the Canadian Center for Disease Modeling (CCDM) global network, 2021- present

• Member of the MODELS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE AGENT STUDY (MIDAS):
  MIDAS members who work on COVID, 2021 - present

• Board Member of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WISTEM) Center, 2016-17.

• Member of the Murfreesboro Art League (MAL)