Yunan Liu

Yunan Liu is an Adjunct Professor at the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, NC State University, and an Amazon Scholar at Amazon's Customer Service and Inventory Planning Control Departments. He joined NC State as an Assistant Professor in 2011, transitioning to his current adjunct role in 2024. His research focuses on stochastic systems, queueing theory, and applications in logistics, healthcare, and service operations. Liu holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Columbia University (2011) and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tsinghua and Columbia Universities.

• Education: Ph.D. (Columbia, 2011), MS (Columbia, 2008), BS (Tsinghua, 2002)

His work bridges theoretical stochastic modeling with practical challenges in supply chains, healthcare systems, and customer service. Recent studies include optimizing omnichannel retail policies, predicting service levels in complex queues, and applying reinforcement learning to human-robot collaboration. Liu’s research appears in top journals like Operations Research and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. His Amazon collaboration explores inventory and customer service analytics.