Professor David D. Yao is a Senior Fellow at the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, City University of Hong Kong, and a full Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Columbia University , where he has held distinguished chairs since 1988. A member of the US National Academy of Engineering and Fellow of IEEE, INFORMS, and SIAM, his career spans over four decades with groundbreaking contributions to stochastic systems, supply chain optimization, healthcare operations, and financial engineering. Ph.D. (1983), M.A.Sc. (1981) from the University of Toronto Academic appointments: Assistant Professor at Columbia (1983-86), Associate Professor at Harvard (1986-88), Professor at Columbia (1988–present) Research Interests center on stochastic modeling, optimization of complex systems, and risk management , with applications to healthcare logistics, semiconductor manufacturing, internet traffic modeling, and financial networks. He has pioneered theories in polymatroid optimization, dynamic scheduling, and systemic risk analysis. Recent Trends in Publications emphasize financial systemic risk via network models , asymptotic inventory optimization , healthcare resource allocation , and multi-bottleneck stochastic networks , reflecting his interdisciplinary approach. Scientific Awards include the 2024 Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, 2015 Markov Lecture, 2015 National Academy of Engineering membership, 2005 INFORMS and IBM Faculty Awards, 2003 SIAM Outstanding Paper Prize, and 1999 Franz Edelman Award. Grant Leadership spans $302,875 NSF-CMMI-1462495 for systemic risk modeling to $20.45M Hong Kong RGC Theme-Based Grant for healthcare systems. His editorial roles and co-founding of Columbia’s Center for Applied Probability and the Financial and Business Analytics Center underscore his institutional impact. Patents cover semiconductor job configuration, warranty inspection systems, and inventory optimization, with 8 US patents. He has supervised over 15 postdoctoral fellows and advised 20+ doctoral students.

