PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ching-Chung Li

Ching-Chung Li was a University of Pittsburgh professor whose research addressed biomedical pattern recognition and multiresolution image processing. He joined Pitt in 1959, became a professor by 1967, and held professorships in electrical engineering and computer science; he earned a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. His work includes a 1998 wavelet motion model for dense optical flow and curvelet-based classifications of prostate histology images in 2016 and 2017. IAPR named him a Fellow in 2006 for contributions to biomedical pattern recognition and multiresolution image processing. Li retired from Pitt in August 2017 after a 58-year career and died in 2022 at age 90.

Works
93
Citations
1,427
h-index
15
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1959–2003

    Pitt's engineering professorships

    He joins Pitt as an assistant professor in September 1959 and becomes a professor by 1967. By 2003, he holds professorships in electrical engineering and computer science there and has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University.

  2. 1998

    Wavelet optical flow

    He coauthors a wavelet motion model for estimating dense optical flow from image sequences in 1998.

  3. 2006

    An IAPR Fellowship

    IAPR names him a Fellow in 2006 for contributions to biomedical pattern recognition and multiresolution image processing.

  4. 2016

    Curvelet-based prostate imaging

    He coauthors a method that uses curvelet-based texture descriptors to classify four critical Gleason patterns in prostate histology images in 2016.

  5. 2017

    A follow-up classifier

    He coauthors a 2017 follow-up that applies a multiresolution curvelet transform to computer-aided classification of four critical Gleason patterns.

  6. 2017–2022

    Retirement and death

    He retires from Pitt in August 2017 after 58 years in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department and dies in 2022 at age 90.

Career

  1. 1959–2017University of PittsburghAssistant Professor, Professor of electrical engineering and computer science

Education

  1. Northwestern UniversityPhD

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Detection, tracking, and classification of action units in facial expression2000 · Robotics and Autonomous Systems · 309 citationsWith Jeffrey F. Cohn and Takeo Kanade
  2. Automated facial expression recognition based on FACS action units2002 · International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition · 226 citationsWith Jeffrey F. Cohn and Takeo Kanade
  3. Automatic recognition of facial expressions using hidden markov models and estimation of expression intensity1998 · 100 citations
  4. Image Registration Using Wavelet-Based Motion Model2000 · International Journal of Computer Vision · 99 citationsWith Jeffrey F. Cohn and Takeo Kanade
  5. Subtly different facial expression recognition and expression intensity estimation2002 · IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition · 94 citationsWith Jeffrey F. Cohn and Takeo Kanade

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Pittsburgh. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of Pittsburgh. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of Pittsburgh. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  4. Stanford University trained or employed 26 of the 108 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Pittsburgh. Stanford University trained or employed 26 of the 108 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Ching-Chung Li yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Li had 58-year ‘impactful’ career at Swanson School utimes.pitt.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. University of Pittsburgh bulletins.pitt.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Optical flow estimation using wavelet motion model scholar.nycu.edu.tw. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. IAPR - IAPR Fellows old.iapr.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Curvelet-based texture classification of critical Gleason patterns of prostate histological images pure.johnshopkins.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Advance on curvelet application to prostate cancer tissue image classification pure.johnshopkins.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.