UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lingzhou Xue, professor of statistics, has been named a fellow of both the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS), an international organization that fosters the development and dissemination of the theory and applications of statistics and probability, and the American Statistical Association (ASA), the nation’s preeminent professional statistical society,
IMS Fellows are selected for distinction in research or leadership that has profoundly influenced the field. The designation of IMS Fellow has been a significant honor for over 85 years. Xue was selected as an IMS Fellow in 2024 “for influential research contributions to the methodology, theory, and application of high-dimensional statistics, statistical machine learning, and nonparametric statistics; for outstanding contributions and leadership in cross-disciplinary research involving the statistical sciences; and for dedicated service to the profession and society.”
ASA Fellows are selected for their outstanding professional contributions and their leadership in the field of statistical science. Nominees are evaluated with consideration to their research, teaching, mentoring, occupation, service to the ASA and the broader community, professional activities and accomplishments in other organizations. Xue was selected as an ASA Fellow in 2023 “for outstanding contributions to statistical methodology and theory, especially in high-dimensional statistics, statistical learning, and nonparametric statistics; to furthering cross-disciplinary research involving the statistical sciences; and for exemplary leadership and prolific service to the profession and society.”
Xue’s research focuses on improving statistical inference for “high-dimensional,” complex datasets, where a large number of features is measured for each observation, and in massive networks. He is also interested in nonparametric statistics, statistical and machine learning, large-scale optimization, and statistical modeling in biomedical, environmental, and social sciences. In 2024, he was selected as a Huck Leadership Fellow by the Penn State Huck institutes of the Life Sciences, for which he will focus on using artificial intelligence (AI) methods and tools to tackle complex challenges in the life sciences.
Xue is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. His previous awards and honors include the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) Distinguished Service Award in 2023, the inaugural Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) Emerging Leader Award in 2021, the International Consortium of Chinese Mathematicians Best Paper Award in 2019, and the inaugural Bernoulli Society New Researcher Award in 2019.
Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 2014, Xue was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University from 2012 to 2013. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees in statistics at the University of Minnesota in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and a bachelor’s degree in statistics at Peking University in 2008.