Hello!


I’m Rui Bai (sounds like “ray bye”), and you may also know me as “Gina”. I publish research under Gina R. Bai.

I am an Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Department of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. In Spring 2024, I teach:

  • CS 1101: Programming and Problem Solving - Java
    • Sections 01 & 02
  • CS 2201: Program Design and Data Structures - Java
    • Section 04

My research interests fall into the intersection of software engineering and computer science education. In particular, I am interested in understanding and addressing the barriers and misconceptions that students have during software development, with a specific focus on software testing. I am also interested in research areas such as code search and DEI in computing communities.

I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science in June 2022 from North Carolina State University, where I was advised by Dr. Kathryn T. Stolee in the Collaborative Software Engineering Lab. In 2016, I received my B.S. in Computer Science from Wake Forest University where I also minored in Mathematics.

Outside of work, I enjoy cooking, reading, photography, and doing jigsaw puzzles.