Welcoming statistics expert Lingzhu Li, new Max Wyman Term Assistant Professor

The Faculty of Science is pleased to welcome Llingzhu Li to the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

Katie Willis - 22 October 2019

Lingzhu Li joins the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences this fall, bringing her expertise in high-dimensional data and model checking.

Li is the latest recipient of the Max Wyman Assistant Professorship in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences-a three-year position that includes a startup research grant. The Max Wyman Assistant Professorship is named after Max Wyman, the first alumnus of the University of Alberta to serve as its president. Wyman was president of UAlberta from 1969 to 1974

Li comes to the University of Alberta from the Hong Kong Baptist University.


What brought you to the University of Alberta?

The great academic atmosphere in the University of Alberta provides an excellent opportunity for young researchers like myself. Although the weather here was freezing when I visited, the people here were warm and friendly.

Tell us about your research program.

My research mainly focuses on model checking, high-dimensional data, and dimension reduction.

Model checking is a process carried out before applying data analysis. Its purpose is to check the adequacy and accuracy of a specific model. This helps us to ensure that the statistical inferences coming from that model are reliable.

As the data volume is growing fast, the usual tests we used to check the adequacy of the models face challenges like low efficiency and power loss. My goal is to develop model checking tests that are useful for high-dimensional data.

What inspired you to enter this field?

When I studied statistics in university, I found that it is a discipline that is closely related to life. For instance, we can build an appropriate model to predict future events and use this information to make decisions-like weather forecasting, for example.

Tell us about your teaching.

I'm teaching STAT 561 on sampling methods in the fall term. In the winter term, I will teach STAT 432 and STAT 532 focused on survival analysis. Teaching is important, as it passes our knowledge to others.