Jing Xiao received her Ph.D. degree in Computer, Information, and Control Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. She is the William B. Smith Professor of Robotics Engineering and also a Professor of Computer Science. She led the Robotics Engineering Program at WPI to become the first full-fledged Robotics Engineering Department in the U.S. in July 2020, offering the most comprehensive degree programs from bachelor's to PhD’s in robotics engineering, and she served as the inaugural Department Head of the Robotics Engineering Department until June 2026. Before July 1, 2020, she was the Director of the Robotics Engineering Program at WPI. She joined WPI from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Her research spans robotics, haptics, and intelligent systems. She has co-authored a monograph, held patents, and published extensively in major robotics journals, conferences, and books. She was the recipient of the 2015 Faculty Outstanding Research Award of the College of Computing and Informatics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Jing Xiao was named among 25 Women in Robotics You Need to Know About in 2015. Jing Xiao is an IEEE Fellow.

Jing Xiao served as the Program Director of the NSF Robotics and Human Augmentation Program (8/1998-12/2000). Since 2013, Jing Xiao has been the Site Director of the National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Robots and Sensors for the Human Well-being (NSF I/UCRC ROSE-HUB).

Jing Xiao is an Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Robotics. She is on the Editorial Board of Advanced Robotics, Technical Activities Board of the International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR), and Steering Committee of the International Symposium on Experimental Robotics. She was on the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association in 2023-2024.

Jing Xiao serves as the Vice President for Finance of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2024-2025, 2026-2027). She was an elected member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Administrative Committee (AdCom) for three years (2018-20). She also served as the IEEE RAS Vice President for Member Activities for two terms (2014-2017) and AdCom members in two previous terms (1999-2001, 2009-11). Jing Xiao has served in leadership roles in many premier IEEE RAS conferences over the years. She was on editorial boards of major IEEE RAS conferences and journals. She received the 2016 IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award. She also received the 2022 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation.

Jing Xiao is a recipient of the 2025 Alumni Merit Award from the University of Michigan.

Jing Xiao was the general chair for the 2018 International Symposium on Experimental Robotics. She served as an Area Chair of the Conference Robotics: Science and Systems in 2014 (RSS 2014) and was an Area Chair in RSS 2006 and RSS 2007.