Yu-Ling Cheng is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto.  She was born in Taiwan, grew up in the U.S., then earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees from MIT, and her PhD from Stanford University.  She worked in industry developing transdermal and bioerodible drug delivery systems before joining the University of Toronto in 1989. Her research interests have remained centred around drug delivery, with a continuing thread in the development of novel materials for drug delivery and other biomedical applications, and the understanding of diffusion and mass transfer in polymeric systems.

Professor Cheng has made significant contributions to the education mission of the University of Toronto. She has taught many courses ranging from thermodynamics to biotransport, played a key role in the design of the Biomedical Option in Engineering Science in 1995, and later served as Option Chair. She then served as Chair of the Division of Engineering Science from 2000 to 2005. She has received numerous awards for her contributions, including teaching awards from the University of Toronto ’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and the Ontario Colleges and Universities Faculty Association (OCUFA), the inaugural Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award from The University of Toronto ’s chapter of Women in Science and Engineering in 2005, the University of Toronto Alumni Association’s Faculty Award in 2007, and the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ inaugural Leadership in Faculty Teaching (LIFT) Award in 2007. Most recently, she received the President’s Teaching Award and was inducted into the University of Toronto’s Teaching Academy.