The Department of Mathematical Sciences welcomed additions to its faculty.
Liang Hong, PhD, associate professor of mathematical sciences, received his BA in economics from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and PhD in mathematics from Purdue University. His research has spanned a wide spectrum of topics, including actuarial science, data science and statistics, machine learning, mathematics, and operations research.
As a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, he is a common sight on various committees in the Society of Actuaries. He joined UTD in fall 2020.
“Though I’ve been at UTD for only two years, I’ve found many gifted and hardworking students in my classes. They have different backgrounds but they share the same passion for learning,” Dr. Hong said.
Teaching flows naturally for Dr. Hong.
“I come from a teacher’s family. My father was a life-long high school teacher. He taught high-school geography for 43 years. When I was a child, teaching was a constant topic at the dinner table. It’s like a seed that was planted and now is grown. I’m a people person with a keen interest in research. Naturally, the career of being a college professor fits me very well.”
Dr. Hong said he is an avid nature enthusiast. In his spare time, he can often be found hiking in a national park or traveling in another country.
“I hope to visit Iceland very soon,” he said.
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Yunan Wu, PhD, is assistant professor of statistics in the Department Mathematical Sciences. She obtained her PhD at the University of Minnesota, School of Statistics, under the guidance of Professor Lan Wang. She then joined the School of Public Health at Yale University to conduct research on biostatistics as a postdoctoral associate, working with Prof. Hongyu Zhao.
Before joining the University of Minnesota, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Dr. Wu’s main research interests are causal inference in precision medicine, non-parametric and semi-parametric analysis, and high dimensional analysis. She also takes interest in studying uncorrupted data, Mendelian randomization, and machine-learning techniques.
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Ronan Conlon, PhD, assistant professor of mathematical sciences, comes to UT Dallas by way of Miami and Florida International University, where he was assistant professor from 2016-2020. Dr. Conlon earned his PhD at Imperial College London (UK) in 2011, with Mark Haskins as his advisor, and his undergraduate degree in mathematics at the University of Warwick (UK) in 2007.
He has spent time as a postdoc at McMaster University and l’Université du Quebec à Montreal in Canada. His research interests include differential geometry and geometric analysis.
“The biggest reward for me [from teaching] is the ability to bring more eager young minds into the mathematical sciences through illustrating the impact that mathematics has in our daily lives and the doors that a mathematics major opens regarding career opportunities that are available,” he said.
“Feedback from students and colleagues is a fast-track way for me to improve my teaching abilities and to grow as an educator,” Dr. Conlon said.
His students might be surprised to know he’s Irish, and that he loves barbecue and steaks.
“I enjoy nature trails and eating at good barbecue restaurants,” Dr. Conlon said.
He said he plans to visit Hawaii next year.
Stories for the newsletter, Math Matters, are produced by faculty and staff of the Department of Mathematical Sciences.
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The Department of Mathematical Sciences is a diverse and vibrant academic unit in terms of both undergraduate and graduate education. With roughly 60 full-time faculty and staff members, and almost 100 supported graduate students, the department engages in outstanding research in pure and applied mathematics, statistics, biostatistics, actuarial and data science.
Our nationally acclaimed actuarial science program was recently named a Center of Actuarial Excellence, one of 19 in the U.S. and one of 35 worldwide.
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