Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Professor Jianjun Cheng obtained a B.S. degree in chemistry from Nankai University, Tianjin,
People’s Republic of China, in 1993, and a M.S. degree in chemistry from Southern Illinois University
at Carbondale in 1996. He received his Ph.D. degree in materials science from the University of
California, Santa Barbara in 2001 with Professor Timothy Deming. From 2001 to 2004, Cheng was
a senior scientist and a project leader at Insert Therapeutics, Inc., a startup biotechnology company.
After working as a postdoctoral research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology with
Professor Robert Langer from 2004 to 2005, Cheng joined the faculty of University of Illinois in
August 2005. He currently holds a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and
Engineering and is affiliated with the Department of Bioengineering.