Hello there! I am Xiaoxuan Hou (she/her/hers), an incoming 5th-year Ph.D. candidate in Operations Management at the Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington. I am fortunate to be advised by Professor Shi Chen, Professor Kamran Moinzadeh, and Professor Michael Wagner, and to collaborate with  Professor Qiuping Yu and Professor Natasha Jaques on exciting research projects.

My research lies at the intersection of sustainable operations management and social equity, with an emphasis on both climate‐change mitigation and inclusive workplace practices. I am currently developing AI-driven frameworks—drawing on RL algorithms and LLMs—to inform and optimize policy design, and bolster workplace productivity and ensure fairness. 

I’m passionate about tackling complex challenges by deploying the most suitable tools, whether economic modeling, data analytics, optimization, or AI, and often blend methods to amplify results. Feel free to explore my research projects for more details! 

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Energy and Resources Engineering with a double degree in Economics from Peking University, China, and a master’s degree in Public Policy Analysis from UC Berkeley. Prior to my Ph.D., I spent five years as a consultant specializing in U.S. energy and environmental markets and policies.