Lina Li

Lina Li is the Winokur Family Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), where she serves as Area Chair for Electrical Engineering. She is an active researcher and advisor in control systems, learning algorithms, and their applications to cyber-physical systems.

• Research Focus: Integrates control theory, reinforcement learning, and optimization with applications in robotics, neuroscience, energy systems, and physical AI.
• Key Themes: Model-based and model-free learning, diffusion models, scalable multiagent-learning, and interdisciplinary methodologies bridging mathematics, engineering, and economics.

Recent Awards:

• IFAC Manfred Thoma Medal (2022)
• Antonio Ruberti Young Researcher Prize (2024)
• NSF CAREER Award
• ONR YIP Award
• ASHRAE Best Paper Award (2024)

Advising & Impact: Mentored former PhD students Xin Chen (Texas A&M) and Yingying Li (UIUC), both now in academic positions. Organized workshops at NeurIPS (2025) and NSF (2025) to advance AI applications in smart cities and reinforcement learning.