The initiative, announced last month by Fields Medal recipient Ngo Bao Chau, scientific director of the Vietnam Institute of Advanced Mathematics, aims to cultivate world-class researchers domestically and reduce the need for highly trained talent only at overseas universities.
Mr. Long is a professor of statistics and, by courtesy, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. His research in statistical machine learning focuses on theoretical foundations, particularly Bayesian nonparametrics and optimal transport.
His research focuses on developing methods based on mathematical principles to improve how machines learn from complex data, and spans several core areas of modern machine learning.
Bayesian nonparametrics designs flexible statistical models that adapt to complexity as the data scale. This is an essential feature in the era of big data. His contributions address a central challenge in AI: enabling models to remain scalable and interpretable.
 |
|
Mr. Ngo Xuan Long, Statistics and Computer Science Processor; Photo courtesy of University of Michigan |
Another important pillar of his research is optimal transport, a mathematical framework for comparing and transforming probability distributions. He applies this theory to hierarchical models and spatiotemporal data such as images and text, providing deeper insight into the behavior of learning algorithms.
We also work on structured data inference and develop algorithms based on geometric and variational principles. These techniques aim to transform high-dimensional raw data into meaningful predictions using applications across machine learning, signal processing, and related fields.
His academic journey started early. Representing Vietnam, he won the bronze medal at the 1992 International Mathematics Olympiad and showed great talent in mathematics from his high school days.
He continued his undergraduate studies at Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea before coming to the United States and earning his PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. He then furthered his expertise through postdoctoral positions at Duke University and the Institute for Statistics and Applied Mathematical Sciences, before joining the University of Michigan in 2009.
Over the years, he has received numerous honors reflecting his influence in statistics and artificial intelligence. He received the NSF CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Mathematical Sciences in 2011, one of the nation’s most prestigious early career research honors.
His research has also received multiple best paper awards, including recognition from the IEEE Signal Processing Society in 2004 and the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) in 2008, one of the field’s leading venues.
Additionally, in recognition of his continued contributions to the field, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the American Statistical Association. Beyond research, he plays an active role in shaping academic discourse through his editorial positions in leading journals such as The Annals of Statistics and the Journal of Machine Learning Research.
Beyond his academic accomplishments, Long is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring. At the University of Michigan, he contributed to a curriculum redesign effort aimed at giving undergraduate students hands-on experience with big data and research-driven learning.
It also maintains strong ties with the Vietnamese academic community and contributes to initiatives such as the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Mathematics. Through these efforts, he continues to support the development of mathematical sciences both locally and globally.
Mr. Long is one of six Vietnamese mathematicians to join Professor Chau’s efforts to reverse Vietnam’s brain drain. Three of them are also based in the United States. They are Ha Hui Thai, chair of the Mathematics Department at Tulane University, Nguyen Trong Toan from Pennsylvania State University, who studies mathematical physics and fluid dynamics, and Dao Hai Long, a two-time International Mathematics Olympiad gold medalist currently at the University of Kansas.
The other two are Ngo Duc Tuan, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and Phan Thanh Nam, a professor at the Department of Mathematics at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany.
In 2020, Nam made history as the first Vietnamese to win the European Mathematical Association Award, which is considered one of the most prestigious honors in the field after the Fields Medal awarded by the International Mathematical Union.
Toan is the recipient of the 2022 T. Brooke Benjamin Award from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
