Rupert Li

Rupert Li is a fourth-year dual bachelor’s and master’s student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in mathematics as well as computer science, data science and economics, and minoring in business analytics. He will begin a doctoral program in mathematics at Stanford University.

Li has written twelve math research articles, primarily in combinatorics, but also including discrete geometry, probability and harmonic analysis. The paper he is most proud of studies the sphere-packing problem, a famously difficult mathematical problem that studies error-correcting codes, which are ubiquitously used to protect our digital world against data corruption. Li enjoys applying tools from harmonic analysis and optimization to offer insights into the sphere-packing problem.

Li was recognized for his work with a Barry Goldwater Scholarship and an honorable mention for the Morgan Prize, one of the highest undergraduate honors in mathematics. He was named a 2024 Marshall Scholar, and he intends to study abroad at Cambridge University for a year.

Li is from Portland, Oregon, and he enjoys hiking in forests and watching movies.