List of Links
Acknowledgements
Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I can remember and remember more than I saw.
– Benjamin Disraeli
The journey to a PhD has been an adventure filled with difficult challenges, unexpected perplexities, and fleeting joys. Many people have guided me through difficulties, clarified my confusion, and shared my joys. I am truly grateful for their help along the way.
First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Kevin Gimpel, for his years of technical insight and research philosophy. He was always knowledgeable about everything we worked on, meticulously explained every word I wrote in the paper, and patiently dealt with my mistakes. Without his positive and stabilizing influence, the work on this thesis would not have been possible.
I would like to thank my dissertation committee members, Karen Livescu, Sam Wiseman, and Luke Zettlemoyer, for their generous time and insight, and Karl Stratos for his guidance.
I'd like to thank my classmates at Toyota Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, especially Qingming Tang for technical (and non-technical) conversations, Bumeng Zhuo for fun weekend activities, and Zewei Chu for bike rides along Chicago's lakefront, as well as my fellow interns and mentors at Google and Facebook.
Finally, I would like to thank my family for inspiring me to learn, encouraging me to go to graduate school, and supporting my research ramblings and listening with interest.
