# CV

See latex version here.

## Appointments

2018-NowVisiting Researcher in Microsoft Research
2017-NowAssistant Professor in University of Washington
2016-2017Postdoc in Microsoft Research

## Education

2012-2016Ph.D. in Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2008-2012B.S. in Mathematics, Chinese University of Hong Kong

## Awards

2018Best Paper Award, Neural Information Processing Systems
A. W. Tucker Prize
NSF CAREER Award
2016Sprowls Award, MIT
2015Best Student Paper, Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science
2014Notable article in computing in 2014 by Computing Reviews
Best Student Paper, Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science
Best Paper Award, Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science
Best Paper Award, Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
2013Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Prize, MIT
2012MIT Presidential Fellowship

## Selected Publications

2019Solving Linear Programs in the Current Matrix Multiplication Time (STOC 2019)
2018Optimal Algorithms for Non-Smooth Distributed Optimization in Networks (NeurIPS 2018)
k-server via multiscale entropic regularization (STOC 2018)
Convergence rate of Riemannian Hamiltonian Monte Carlo and faster polytope volume computation (STOC 2018)
2017Eldan's Stochastic Localization and the {KLS} Hyperplane Conjecture: An Improved Lower Bound for Expansion (FOCS 2017)
Kernel-based methods for bandit convex optimization (STOC 2017)
2015A Faster Cutting Plane Method and its Implications for Combinatorial and Convex Optimization (FOCS 2015)
2014Path Finding Methods for Linear Programming: Solving Linear Programs in $\tilde{O}(\sqrt{\mathrm{rank}})$ Iterations and Faster Algorithms for Maximum Flow (FOCS 2014)
An Almost-Linear-Time Algorithm for Approximate Max Flow in Undirected Graphs, and its Multicommodity Generalizations (SODA 2014)
2013Improved Cheeger's inequality: analysis of spectral partitioning algorithms (STOC 2013, SIAM J. Comput.)

## Other Publications

2019Competitively Chasing Convex Bodies (STOC 2019)
Metrical task systems on trees via mirror descent and unfair gluing (SODA 2019)
A Nearly-Linear Bound for Chasing Nested Convex Bodies (SODA 2019)
2018Efficient Convex Optimization with Membership Oracles (COLT 2018)
Universal Barrier is n-Self-Concordant (arXiv)
The Kannan-Lovász-Simonovits Conjecture (arXiv)
The Paulsen problem, continuous operator scaling, and smoothed analysis (STOC 2018)
A matrix expander Chernoff bound (STOC 2018)
Stochastic localization + Stieltjes barrier = tight bound for log-Sobolev (STOC 2018)
An homotopy method for lp regression provably beyond self-concordance and in input-sparsity time (STOC 2018)
2017Optimal Algorithms for Smooth and Strongly Convex Distributed Optimization in Networks (ICML 2017)
An SDP-based algorithm for linear-sized spectral sparsification (STOC 2017)
Geodesic walks in polytopes (STOC 2017)
Subquadratic submodular function minimization (STOC 2017)
2016Faster Algorithms for Convex and Combinatorial Optimization ()
Black-box Optimization with a Politician (ICML 2016)
Using Optimization to Obtain a Width-Independent, Parallel, Simpler, and Faster Positive SDP Solver (SODA 2016)
Improved Cheeger's Inequality and Analysis of Local Graph Partitioning using Vertex Expansion and Expansion Profile (SODA 2016)
Geometric median in nearly linear time (STOC 2016)
Sparsified Cholesky and multigrid solvers for connection laplacians (STOC 2016)
Landmark-Matching Transformation with Large Deformation Via n-dimensional Quasi-conformal Maps (J. Sci. Comput.)
2015A geometric alternative to Nesterov's accelerated gradient descent (arXiv)
Efficient Inverse Maintenance and Faster Algorithms for Linear Programming (FOCS 2015)
Constructing Linear-Sized Spectral Sparsification in Almost-Linear Time (FOCS 2015, SIAM J. Comput.)
Uniform Sampling for Matrix Approximation (ITCS 2015)
2014Single Pass Spectral Sparsification in Dynamic Streams (FOCS 2014, SIAM J. Comput.)
2013Efficient Accelerated Coordinate Descent Methods and Faster Algorithms for Solving Linear Systems (FOCS 2013)
A new approach to computing maximum flows using electrical flows (STOC 2013)

## Teaching

2018-2019CSE 535 Theory of Optimization and Continuous Algorithms
CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms
2017-2018CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms
CSE 599 Interplay between Convex Optimization and Geometry

## Service

2019Co-organizer of a data science workshop in the University of Washington
2018Program Committee of Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS 2018)
Co-organizer of a data science workshop in the University of Wisconsin
2017Program Committee of Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA 2017)
Co-organizer of a workshop in The 49th Annual ACM Symposium on the Theory of Computing (STOC 2017)
Program Committee of International Workshop on Randomization and Computation (RANDOM 2017)
2016Co-organizer of three sessions in The fifth International Conference on Continuous Optimization (ICCOPT 2016)