Welcome!

I am a teaching-stream professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, St. George campus. I'm also currently serving as the department's Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies.

To the left is the most flattering picture of myself I could find. It also has the advantage that it perfectly encapsulates my relationship with chocolate.

Current teaching

I am not teaching in the 2025-26 academic year.

Other professional activities

I am a faculty lead of the Department of Computer Science Embedded Ethics Education Initiative (E3I).

My life so far

I was born in Ottawa some time ago, and after spending a few years skating on the Rideau Canal, I moved to Toronto and eventually attended this place. I'm not the most famous "Liu" in my high school graduating class.

I did my undergraduate studies in Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, primarily with these fantastic people, and would not be where I am today without the inspiration and support of Levent Tuncel and Andrew Childs.

After I graduated, I moved right around the corner from the best cafe in Toronto. I completed a Master's degree in the Computer Science Theory Group at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Toni Pitassi and Steve Cook.

In July 2015, I joined the department permanently as a teaching-stream faculty member. In 2018, I won the University of Toronto Early Career Teaching Award. On July 2021, I was promoted to Associate Professor, Teaching Stream! In 2024, I won the Northrop Frye Award (Team) alongside Professors Steven Coyne, Diane Horton, and Sheila McIlraith for our work on the Embedded Ethics Education Initiative. In 2025, this team also won the D2L Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. In the same year, I also won the Arts & Science Outstanding Teaching Award!

Other things about me

Contact information

My office is located in the Bahen Centre, room 4260. I usually prefer setting up appointments by email, but if you see my door open feel free to ask if I have a moment (but I might say no). My email address is david at cs dot toronto dot edu.

Credits

My website favicon is from favicon.cc.