Computational Biologist Joins Department of Mathematical Sciences

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Qingyang Zhang

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Qingyang Zhang will join the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences this fall as an assistant professor. He comes to the University of Arkansas from Northwestern University where he taught statistics courses and was instrumental in producing a software package for analyzing chemical mapping of nucleosomes. 

Zhang's dissertation topic was Bayesian network inference and its application to systems biology.  As an active researcher, his interests include graphical models and network analysis, high-dimensional data analysis, data mining, systems biology, cancer biology, bioinformatics and statistical genetics. 

"We are very excited to have Dr. Zhang join our department," said Mark Johnson, department chair. "His expertise in statistics and computational biology will add great breadth to our programs."

Zhang is a member of the American Statistical Association and International Biometric Society. In the past two years, he has received three travel grants to present papers at national conferences.

"I look forward to working with both the Fulbright College and the Department of Mathematical Sciences," Zhang said. "I hope that my research will have lasting benefits for the university and for the community as a whole."

Zhang holds a Bachelor of Science in statistics from Beijing Normal University, a Master of Science in applied statistics from Loyola University and a doctorate in statistics from Northwestern University.