News & Events

It is with great sadness that the Computer Science department shares the news of the death of Dr. Tao Li '04, a graduate of the University of Rochester's Computer Science PhD program. Dr. Li is remembered as a truly brilliant computer science researcher, extraordinary teacher, vibrant mentor, caring colleague, and beloved friend.

Dr. Li was serving as an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the School of Computing and Information Sciences at Florida International University. In addition to his dedication to FIU, Dr. Li was also the Head of the Computer School at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Dr. Li's research interests included data mining, machine learning, information retrieval, and bioinformatics.

Among his many honors, Dr. Li was the recipient of the NSF Career Award, multiple IBM Faculty Research Awards, FIU's Excellence in Research and Creativity Award, and a Xerox Research Award.

"[Dr. Li] was one of the most prolific collaborators I have had the privilege to work with," said Dr. Mitsunori Ogihara, Dr. Li's thesis advisor and former Professor & Chair at the University of Rochester. "With his unwavering devotion to research and his unmatched brilliance, he affected every collaborator." Dr. Joel Seiferas, Associate Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Rochester, reflected that "[Dr. Li] was determined in a very collegial way to learn, to be reliable, and to excel. All who knew him will miss his friendship and collaboration."