People / Students / Class of 2026
Yuanyuan graduated from Emory University in December 2023 with a double major in Applied Mathematics and Economics. During her undergraduate studies, she explored the intersection of quantitative modeling, algorithmic bias, and social impact. Her technical journey began with a creative exploration of mathematics through movement and naturally progressed into applied research with tangible real-world outcomes. One of her key projects involved building AI-powered document processing pipelines using AWS SageMaker and Google Document AI to extract and structure financial data from historical Moody’s manuals. This experience deepened her skills in clustering algorithms and data visualization, as she developed interactive dashboards to support regulatory research. Building on this foundation, she modeled equitable annuity design, which she presented at the 96th International Atlantic Economic Conference, and published a forest carbon sequestration strategy based on age-dependent harvesting models.
After graduation, Yuanyuan joined the Department of Management at City University of Hong Kong as a full-time Research Assistant. There, she further advanced her expertise in behavioral modeling, statistical inference, and data engineering through interdisciplinary research. Her work includes analyzing intergenerational misconduct patterns in organizations using Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), conducting eye-tracking experiments to study how advertising and policy strategies mobilize public support for social enterprises, and using LDA topic modeling to analyze stakeholder trust dynamics. She also collaborated with the CEO of a leading local nonprofit organization on gender equity analytics and volunteers with the Federation of Greater Bay Area Wuxi Women Org Ltd, where she contributes to women-led initiatives focused on cross-regional mentorship, leadership, and collaboration.
Now at Northwestern’s Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS) program, Yuanyuan is excited to expand her technical toolkit while deepening her commitment to socially responsible innovation. She is passionate about designing inclusive, transparent systems and bridging the gap between advanced analytics and public good. Through the MLDS program, she looks forward to collaborating with peers and industry leaders to turn complex data into equitable, high-impact solutions.
