I have loved statistics since taking A.P. Statistics in high school with Ms. Clark1. The idea that statistics could quantify evidence in order to resolve questions was tremendously exciting. Then in college, I was further encouraged by Dr. Raviv, who fully supported my desire to study more. My master's experience gave me a new way to appreciate statistics when I learned how much deep mathematical analysis undergirds statistics, and the summer internship at Facebook that followed made me want to understand the theoretical principles behind the methods I was using. Then I completed my PhD at USC, where I was introduced to large-scale statistical inference.
My graduate school experience was illuminated by faculty, collaborators, and peers. My co-advisors were Dr. Wenguang Sun and Dr. Gareth James. Their quality of thought, creativity, and work flow inspire me all the time. Other collaborators with whom I have worked closely have included Dr. Pallavi Basu on multiple testing; my sister Dr. Sue Fu on a study of surgical costs; and Dr. Thomas Valente, Megan Jacobs, Jody Brookover, Dr. Nate Cobb, and Dr. Amanda Graham on social network and health research. When conducting research on model selection, I was also advised by Dr. Yingying Fan and Dr. Jinchi Lv.
My community made a hugely positive impact on my life and research. Dr. Courtney Paulson and Dr. Pallavi Basu were a joy with whom to share part of the PhD experience, while Dr. Xinghao Qiao fearlessly led the way for us all! PhD students Weinan Wang, Trambak Banerjee, and Josh Derenski were great company and made me very proud of our PhD program. I was also fortunate that my time overlapped with PhD students Brad Rava, Simone Shao, Wilson Lin, Michael Huang, and Patrick Vossler, who greatly added to my community. I am deeply grateful to everyone mentioned and also to the former PhD chair Dr. Greys Sosic, who worked very patiently and with great sensitivity with us students. Also, decades of thanks go to my friend Dushan Perera, who took my website design from the '90s into the 21st century.
Two other things I like are technology and running. Having grown up in Silicon Valley, I believe (rather fervidly) that technology will change the world for the better. The digitization of health data, the services embedded in many crytpocurrencies, and artificial intelligence are particularly interesting. I once ran 20 miles for an icecream sandwich. It was worth it. I also once ran 31 miles around San Francisco. On the way out, I ran the coast line from Ocean Beach to the Embarcadero. On the way back, I ran by the Presidio and through Golden Gate Park. It was probably the most beautiful run I've ever taken.
I also have a sister, Dr. Sue Fu, who completed her medical degree at Case Western and is a general surgery resident at Stanford. I am so proud of her.
1 During my PhD, I found another Gunn student who was inspired to pursue a PhD because of Ms. Clark's class!