Yun Yang

Yun Yang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Maryland, College Park. Previously, he held positions as Associate Professor (2022–2022) and Assistant Professor (2018–2022) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Assistant Professor at Florida State University (2016–2018). He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Tsinghua University (2011) and a Ph.D. in Statistics from Duke University (2014).

His research focuses on Bayesian inference, high-dimensional statistics, machine learning, and optimal transport. Recent work emphasizes applying optimal transport and Wasserstein gradient flows to statistical problems, including regression, clustering, and generative modeling. He also investigates algorithmic scalability and theoretical guarantees for modern statistical methods.

Key contributions include advancements in diffusion models for manifold structures, minimax-optimal distribution estimation, and Bayesian model selection via variational approximations. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications in data science and optimization.

Service roles include Associate Editorships at Bayesian Analysis (2025–present) and Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics (2023–present), and Area Chair for AISTATS (2022–present).