The NSF offers this prestigious award as part of the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

Jeff Wu, Coca-Cola Chair in Engineering Statistics at IsyE, states that “Yajun belongs to a select group of young statisticians who excel in esoteric (and elegant) theory such as sequential analysis as well as significant applications such as decentralized sensor network. ISyE is proud of having such talented young researchers among its ranks.”

 Professor Mei is the fourth NSF CAREER Award winner in the statistics/quality group at the Stewart School of ISyE in the last four years. He joins the ranks of professors Roshan Vengazhiyil, Nagi Gebraeel; and Ming Yuan, who received the award in 2006, 2007 and 2009, respectively.

 Professor Mei’s research interests include change-point problems and sequential analysis in Mathematical Statistics; sensor networks and information theory in Engineering; and longitudinal data analysis, random effects models, and clinical trials in Biostatistics.

 He received a B.S. in Mathematics from Peking University in P.R. China, and a PhD in Mathematics with a minor in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Mei also worked as a Postdoc in Biostatistics for two years in the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA.