Qiang Du Named Fellow of the American Mathematical Society

Dec 27 2019 | By Allison Elliott
Portrait of Prof. Qiang Du.

Prof. Qiang Du has been elected a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Qiang Du, Fu Foundation Professor of Applied Mathematics, has been elected a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). The program recognizes members who have made “outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics” this year’s class comprises 52 mathematical scientists from around the world.

“I am honored to be part of an organization that contributes so much to the promotion of mathematics research and education,” says Du, who is also chair of the applied math program at Columbia Engineering and a co-chair of the Center of Computing Systems for Data-driven Science of the Data Science Institute. “Many of the biggest challenges of our time require the application of mathematics to find solutions. These challenges in turn create new research frontiers to enrich and advance mathematics discipline.”

As leader of the Computational Mathematics and Multiscale Modeling (CM3) group at Columbia, Du investigates applied and computational mathematics with applications in physical, biological, materials, data, and information sciences. He has been at the forefront of developing new mathematical theory and utilizing computing technology to translate simulation and data to scientific principles and knowledge.

Many of the biggest challenges of our time require the application of mathematics to find solutions. These challenges in turn create new research frontiers to enrich and advance mathematics discipline.

Qiang Du
Fu Foundation Professor of Applied Mathematics

Du’s research efforts have included approaches to mathematically model and simulate defects and interfaces in nature and explorations of the hidden structure and information in images and data. This year, he published a CBMS-NSF research monograph titled “Nonlocal modeling, analysis and computation,” which he believes will contribute to the mathematical study of nonlocal interactions in our increasingly connected world. His other recent collaborative and highly interdisciplinary projects include the modeling of strategic interactions between autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles, and the characterization and discovery of advanced, complex materials.

The recipient of many awards and honors, Du is a 2013 Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics and a 2017 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The newest cohort of AMS Fellows will be formally welcomed at the organization’s next national meeting in January 2020 in Denver, Colorado. Du joins eight other Columbia professors who have previously been inducted into the AMS, including Professor of Applied Mathematics Michael Weinstein and the late founding chair of the Department of Computer Science, former Edward Howard Armstrong Professor Joseph Traub.

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