Dave ZhaoSihai Dave Zhao of the Department of Statistics has been named one of four recipients of the Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors (LEAP) Award by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Illinois. The LEAP Award is granted to faculty based on scholarly productivity and contributions to the educational mission of their departments and the college.

The LEAP Scholars will retain the award for two years, receiving $5,000 in discretionary research funding each of those years. The recipients were nominated by executive officers in departments across the college, and they were selected by a committee of senior distinguished faculty across several units.

“The LEAP Scholars represent a bright future for the College of LAS,” said Feng Sheng Hu, the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of LAS. “They are exemplary teachers and researchers, and I am confident that they will continue to develop into strong leaders in their fields and on campus.”

After receiving his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Harvard University, Zhao came to Illinois in 2014 to serve as an assistant professor in statistics. Zhao also works as a faculty affiliate at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology where he researches gene networks in neural development and plasticity and computing genomes for reproductive health. Other research topics Zhao studies include statistical genomics, high-dimensional statistics, and survival analysis.

For profiles on the other three recipients of the LEAP Award and for the original article posted on the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences website, please see Junior faculty highlighted as LEAP Scholars

 

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