4/9/2025 Bruce Adams
CS and Mathematics student Annie Zeng is one of four students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to receive the 2025 Goldwater Scholarship. CS science professor Ruta Mehta directed her research in theoretical computer science as an Illinois Computer Science Student Ambassador and Research Scholar (CS STARS.)
Written by Bruce Adams
Annie Zeng, an undergraduate pursuing degrees in computer science at The Grainger College of Engineering and mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, is one of four students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to receive a 2025 Goldwater Scholarship.
The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award in the field of the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. From an estimated pool of over 5,000 college sophomores and juniors, 1,350 science, engineering, and mathematics students were nominated by 445 academic institutions to compete for the 2025 Goldwater scholarships. Ultimately, 441 scholarships were awarded. Four Illinois students won 2025 scholarships. Zeng says, "The scholarship is a huge encouragement, and it’s humbling to be recognized alongside so many talented students. It really motivates me to keep pursuing research and learning as much as I can."
Siebel School of Computing and Data Science CS professor Ruta Mehta directed her research in theoretical computer science as an Illinois Computer Science Student Ambassador and Research Scholar (CS Stars), and she worked at the Illinois Combinatorics Lab for Undergraduate Experiences with mathematics postdoctoral research associate Peter Bradshaw. Zeng continues in both programs under the guidance of CS professor Chandra Chekuri and mathematics professor Abhishek Methuku, studying graph theory. She participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates at the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science at Rutgers University studying algorithmic game theory.
Zeng describes her acceptance into CS STARS as "the main reason as to why I was able to do research in computer science to begin with. During my sophomore year, the CS STARS program matched me to work with Professor Ruta Mehta, where we studied the relationship between a fair division problem on a graph and the chromatic number of a graph. This experience massively increased my interest in the theoretical side of computer science. Besides the research aspect of CS STARS, the program has provided me with a welcoming community and encouraged me to engage more with the CS community at U. of I. In general, I think it’s important for women and minorities in CS to have somewhere to turn to for support, and I believe CS STARS is a program that provides this needed support for women in CS to really thrive at Illinois."
In explaining her decision to work towards two degrees, she says, "I initially entered Illinois as a pure CS major. My first semester here, I took a class on mathematical proof-writing. I enjoyed this class very much, so I decided to continue moving up the ladder of math classes and take various mathematics electives that interested me - consequently declaring a math major. Both the CS and math departments here have offered me amazing opportunities, through research programs like CS STARS and ICLUE, and the interdisciplinary perspective I have gained has helped me make the most out of my opportunities. Understanding how to rigorously and mathematically justify my ideas has been very helpful in turning my ideas for my research in CS into a concrete paper. "
Zeng plans "to get a PhD in either mathematics or computer science. I intend to focus on graph theory, where I intend to gain a mathematical understanding of the subject, and explore its connections and apply it to theoretical computer science. "
Publications:
April 2024 On the structure of EFX orientations on graphs Jinghan A Zeng and Ruta Mehta, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2025)
March 2024 Paintability of r-chromatic graphs Peter Bradshaw and Jinghan A. Zeng
Grainger Engineering Affiliations
Chandra Chekuri is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of computer science and holds the Paul and Cynthia Saylor Professorship.
Ruta Mehta is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of computer science.