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LIVERMORE, Calif. – November 27, 2007 – From Web page rankings to stock market modeling,
Portland resident Tianhu “Michael” Li sees mathematical similarity in most
everything. Li, 22, will study
graduate-level applied mathematics at an American university as part of a full
five-year graduate fellowship from the prestigious Fannie and John Hertz
Foundation once he completes a one-year master’s program at Cambridge
University in England. “It’s neat how mathematics allows you to explain the
world in a crisp, precise way,” Li says.
“One body of mathematical literature can model, for example, stock
market movements, internet browsing, and the physical properties of diffusion
at the same time. Studying the
mathematics in one context informs knowledge in the other.” Li,
a 2007 Princeton University graduate, is one of 15 graduate students selected
from more than 580 across the country to receive the Hertz graduate
fellowship. Of diverse ethnicities
and backgrounds, Hertz Fellows each receive up to $240,000 over five years to
pursue their own scientific interests at top universities in the United
States. This no-strings-attached
support gives Hertz Fellows financial independence and freedom to conduct
innovative research because, unlike many other grants, university and study
choices are not limited by strict funding requirements. “Hertz Fellows represent the very best young
scientific talent in our nation,” says John Holzrichter, PhD, Hertz Foundation
president. “These students embody
the drive and curiosity to solve the most difficult problems our world faces,
and we are pleased to support them as they grow in their chosen disciplines.” Even as a young boy in his native China, Li was drawn
to math and science. Once in the
U.S., he advanced quickly in his science studies and entered local and national
science competitions. Li won
second place in the high school Intel Science Talent Search by creating a novel
desktop nuclear fusion reactor. In
college, Li pursued interdisciplinary research projects that built upon his
math foundation, including designing and writing a program that exploits
mathematical proofs to reduce software glitches and creating practical
generalizations of Convex Risk Measures – functions that gauge the “riskiness”
of financial securities. Li has spent his summers conducting research at
Intel’s Microprocessor Research Lab, Intel’s Network Research Lab, Google,
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and
Bloomberg’s Quantitative Financial Research. Though Li has yet to decide which graduate school he will
attend once he returns from England, he is excited about using his Hertz
Fellowship to study subjects that are connected via math. “Social dynamics, Web page rankings and analysis of financial
investments are three different fields with one huge thing in common – shared
mathematic principles. I hope to
use mathematics to investigate the deep interconnections between fields and
better understand them,” Li says. Li is a 2003 graduate of Oregon Episcopal High School
in Portland. He received a bachelor of science and engineering in computer
science with a minor in math from Princeton University, where he graduated in
2007 with honors, including the thesis prize from the computer science
department and the Lore von Jaskowsky Memorial Prize from the School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences.
While in college, Li was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa and
Sigma Xi. He also received the
computer science department Accenture Prize and was named to USA Today’s
All-USA College Academic First Team. In addition to the Hertz Foundation, Li is
a fellow of the Merage Foundation and National Science Foundation. He received the Marshall Scholarship to
study at Cambridge, UK. Li’s
mother Zaiyi Chen works for the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland.
About
the Hertz Foundation The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, based
in Livermore, Calif., is a tax exempt, not-for-profit organization dedicated to
the selection and support of outstanding individuals in the applied physical,
biological and engineering sciences.
Founded in 1963, the Foundation’s mission is to build America’s capacity
for innovation by nurturing remarkable applied scientists and engineers who
show the most promise to change the world. It awards fellowships to an average of 15 PhD candidates
every year to pursue graduate studies at the nation's finest academic
institutions. As a result, the
Hertz Foundation supports the research efforts of about 75 Fellows at any given
time. The Hertz Fellowships are
widely considered to be among the most competitive and most prestigious offered
anywhere. For more information
about the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, as well as giving opportunities, go
to www.hertzfoundation.org.
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