Yuan grew up in Beijing, China. She stumbled into a Hebrew class when she was a freshman at Renmin University (because other ancient language classes were full) and ended up pursuing an academic career in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East (ANE). Before she came to the Angelicum, she did her academic training in Jerusalem and northern Indiana, US.

Yuan is especially interested in questions concerning ANE science and epistemology. For example, how did ANE cultures define knowledge? What kinds of knowledge are considered meaningful, and thus worth pursuing? How is ancient science similar to, and different from, modern science?

Outside teaching and research, Yuan enjoys cooking, painting, gardening, reading science articles, and everything animal-related. Wen dreams of getting a degree in botany after she retires.