I am a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where I am fortunate to be advised by Prof. Qiaomin Xie. I also collaborate closely with Prof. Yudong Chen, Prof. Ruihao Zhu, and other outstanding colleagues. Before coming to Madison, I earned a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Nankai University.

My research develops mathematical foundations for machine learning and sequential decision-making by combining applied probability with algorithm design. My current work centers on two directions:

• Distributional analysis of stochastic algorithms. I establish distributional convergence and characterize the long-run distributions and bias of stochastic algorithms, providing a foundation for the design of more efficient algorithms.

• Satisficing sequential decision-making under imperfect information. I develop algorithms that maintain satisfactory performance while avoiding unnecessary learning costs under imperfect information, including when the available historical data are biased or the environment is nonstationary.

Email: yzhang2554@wisc.edu

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I am on the 2026–2027 academic job market！